


The Inner Monster

by EllanaSan



Series: Katniss, The Vampire Slayer [6]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fusion, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Katniss the Vampire Slayer, Magic Gone Wrong, Papa!Haymitch, Slayer!Katniss, Witch!Effie, exploring inner daemons today, mama!effie, watcher!haymitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-09-26 07:48:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20386207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllanaSan/pseuds/EllanaSan
Summary: A shiver rocked Peeta's body. He was cold but he didn’t think it was what had triggered the chill.He couldn’t live like that. Afraid of himself. Afraid he would hurt someone in a fit of anger. Afraid he would turn into his mother.He couldn’t.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> And we’re baaaaaack with episode 6. Yes, everlark fans, this episode should satisfy your cravings. I hope.

Haymitch leaned against the Art classroom doorframe, angling his body toward the corridor so he didn’t block the students’ path as they rushed out of the room. Effie was too busy scolding a teenage boy to notice his presence and he couldn’t help but smirk when he understood just _why _the boy was getting lectured.

“_Truly_, I expected better of you.” She clucked her tongue. “You have some talent. How _childish_ of you to waste it doodling breasts and vaginas on the table. If you, _at_ _least_, made it artistic. But no. Simple _ridiculous_ childish doodles designed to make your friends laugh. I am _disappointed_ in you and I expect you to come back after class and clean it up.” The boy looked down, properly chastised, and she waved an impatient hand, the decorative rhinestone on her nails briefly catching the light. “Run along, now. And do not let me catch you drawing those obscene things again or I will have _no_ choice but to direct you to Principal Heavensbee.”

She didn’t turn around when the boy scampered away, she started gathering what looked like test papers. What was there to test about in Art was anyone’s guess but Haymitch didn’t claim to be an expert.

He slowly closed the door once the student was gone, relieved to cut the unbearable noises of chatter and slamming lockers doors that came from the corridors. The periods between classes were always the noisiest and the older he got the less he enjoyed the sound of football players screaming to each other in the hallways.

“You know… You can’t blame a boy for thinking about sex when he’s got to look at you for a whole hour…” he joked.

He had hoped to catch her unaware but she must have known he was there all along because she didn’t startle, not even a little. She kept on gathering her papers, barely tossing him a glance over her shoulder.

“Confusing me with a succubus again, are we?” she teased.

“Told you once… If you didn’t look so much like one…” he mocked, sitting down on the edge of her desk and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

She was wearing faded pink velvet shorts with a thin purple belt that showed off her endless legs and a white woolen sweater that hugged her figure. The long gold necklace that dangled between her breasts wasn’t exactly discouraging people to _look. _

She looked perfectly _tempting_ and if they hadn’t been at school…

“Not everyone is as obsessed with my body as you are, Haymitch.” she retorted, strutting closer to the desk. She stopped right in front of him, closer than she probably should have to maintain the _professional _behavior she had made clear she expected of him on school grounds, and leaned in to place the stack of papers behind him despite the large amount of space available. “To what do I owe this visit?”

Her perfume was enticing and, despite the fact they had had sex _just _the previous night, he felt his body react to her closeness.

_Are we still casual? _she had asked as they laid side by side on the floor of her gym, the remnant of the cloaking spell still in the air.

His stomach clenched with fear and, for a second, desire was supplanted by the paralyzing terror that she would soon join the ghosts he carried with him. He couldn’t see them anymore. He couldn’t see them but they were too easy to imagine, too easy to picture, too easy to remember…

He resisted the urge to caress her cheek, steal a kiss to steady his nerves maybe… It wasn’t her responsibility to steady his nerves. It wasn’t her responsibility to comfort or reassure him.

_Are we still casual? _

He cared too much for her already and he suspected she cared too much for him. Casual was all well and good but the thing between them felt anything but that. It felt big. And dangerous. And he was too aware that he was cursed, in effect if not in practice, and that anyone he allowed close ended up dead, particularly women.

“Katniss met Gloss last night.” he said.

The mood immediately shifted.

From playful, _seducing, _her expression became shocked and then worried. “Is she…”

“She’s alright. There wasn’t even a fight.” he reassured her and then shrugged. “Tried to intimidate her, more like.”

“Good.” she breathed out, stepping back a little so they weren’t so much in each other’s space. “Well…” She winced and nervously played with her golden necklace. “Not _good_ but…”

“Could have been worse.” he commented.

“Yes.” she admitted, licking her lips. They were painted a dark red and he tried not to think of blood, tried not to picture everything that could go wrong and leave her bleeding out…

The Lachnoc demon might have been dead but it was not so easy to shake off the fear he had woken up.

“I don’t think she can take him, sweetheart.” he said slowly, letting his eyes wander to the windows and the naked trees outside. “Cashmere was a fluke. She was lucky. She’s good but she’s not there yet. And if _the three of them _are there…”

“Train her harder.” Effie immediately advised. “I will help.”

His gaze darted back to her, _studied_ her. It was her first day back at school since her stay in the hospital and she didn’t look one hundred percent recovered yet. There were dark bags under her eyes despite the make-up, she looked pale and frail…

He sighed. “We all need to up our game. You and I included. You can’t rely only on your magic.”

She disliked physical fighting, he knew that. Given the choice, she would always rely on her powers or, if pressed, grab a crossbow. It was wise, probably. She might have been a Potential but she was still human and humans weren’t supposed to go head to head with demons and vampires. Nevertheless, there was only so much you could do at a distance and, more often than not in Haymitch’s experience, direct engagement was needed.

Her mouth twitched into something that wasn’t quite a pout but that was close. “I know.”

He nodded. “He mentioned something… A reaping. Or _the _Reaping with a capital R for all I know. I know I’ve heard something about it before but I can’t remember and I couldn’t find any trace of it last night. Rings a bell?”

She slowly shook her head, a thinking frown on her face. “Not right now… I will start looking.”

“Call the Council.” he ordered. “They need to be kept in the loop.” As much as he didn’t like to involve Coin and the rest of them, if they failed to stop whatever the Careers were up to and Snow rose… They needed to know. And to _be_ _prepared_. “Maybe they can help with this Reaping thing.”

“Of course.” she hummed. “I have other contacts… I will ask around.”

“Alright.” He uncrossed his arms, studied her for a moment and then looked down. “You remember the warlock who helped Maysilee trap Snow?”

She frowned. “We’ve never met but I heard of him. _Obviously_.”

“I’m trying to get in touch.” He made a face. “Don’t take it the wrong way. I know we’ve got you for magic but…”

“Oh, no, no! I _completely_ understand.” she cut him off, lifting both hands with a smile that might or might not have been a little fake. “I am only an _amateur_, he is the real deal.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t call yourself an amateur.” He looked her up and down and pushed himself back to his feet, not so accidentally placing himself back in her space. “Might kill two birds with one stone too. He might know how to help you unlock your power.”

“There is no power to unlock.” she immediately retorted, sounding frightened. “The Lachnoc demon…”

“Couldn’t _create _magic.” he interrupted. “We’ve been over this.” Her eyes avoided his and it was her turn to hug herself. She looked so upset that he sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t be scared, sweetheart. It’s not a bad thing.”

“You are _wrong_.” she muttered. “I am not powerful. I am _average_. _Less_ than average.”

He squeezed her shoulder. “Well, he can tell us for sure.” She looked up at him, lost and frightened like she had been when the demon had tempted her with the Hellmouth powers. He let his hand trail up her neck and to her cheek, retracing her cheekbone with his thumb. “Don’t be scared.”

“Easy for you to say.” she whispered.

“_Yeah_.” He snorted, leaning in. “It is.” He brushed his lips against hers once before kissing her more firmly. “I ain’t scared of you, sweetheart.” He pressed another kiss against her lips and smirked. “Well… Maybe I’m scared of your cooking…”

She whacked his arm, pursing her lips in irritation. She also looked a little less dazed. “I trust we are having an emergency meeting after school?”

Brought back to the direness of the situation, he let go of her waist not quite sure when he had even put his hands there. “Yeah. Research and training.”

“Go on patrol with Katniss tonight.” she instructed. “I will keep researching.”

“Sounds like a plan.” he accepted. “Got to go. Kids are gonna be waiting.”

She frowned and glanced at the clock on the wall. “Are you saying you should be _in class _right now?”

He smirked at how outraged she sounded. “Left an assignment on the board. Hopefully they won’t burn the school down.”

She rolled her eyes, knowing as he did the kids were probably doing _anything _but what he had told them to do, and pushed him toward the door. “Go.”

“So eager to get rid of me.” he mocked.

“You are insufferable.” she declared. “_Irresponsible_. Immature. You could have very well _texted _me, Haymitch. Abandoning your classroom! Truly!”

He let her push him out, chuckling to himself at how ridiculously predictable she was.

He _could _have texted her, he mused on his way back to his own classroom, but he had wanted to see her, to _touch _her.

And wasn’t that a problem in itself… Less serious than the possibility of their imminent death, sure, but serious enough in its own right.

°O°O°O°O°

“And he was wearing armor?” Madge asked hesitantly “Like… a gladiator?”

Katniss fingered what was left of her sandwich, too nervous to really eat but also remembering too vividly how it felt to starve to just discard it.

She wasn't sure telling Madge about the Careers had been a good idea but she hadn't spotted Peeta anywhere in the cafeteria, the other girl had shyly waved her to their usual table and had immediately picked up on her tension. Besides Madge already knew so where was the wrong in keeping her appraised? Her Watchers would have had something to say about it for certain but…

“Peeta said he went full _Assassin's Creed_ mode.” She made a face. “Whatever _that_ means.”

Madge looked just as perplexed as she did and Katniss felt a tinge of satisfaction at not being the only clueless one for once. Peeta loved to confuse her with pop culture references and then make fun of her for not understanding. Usually, she found it relatively funny, right then she was a little angry with Peeta and, as a consequence, she just found it annoying. 

“And this Reaping thing, you don't have any clue what it is?” Madge insisted.

Katniss watched two football players getting rough with each other on the other side of the cafeteria, apparently considering shoving each other a manly demonstration of affection_._

“None.” she confirmed, shaking her head. “Haymitch’s in a state though. He said we're going to up the training… Problem is, we can’t fight and research at the same time so we’re wasting time.” She sighed. “Peeta’s training with me because he insists on coming on patrol, Haymitch is training me, Prim isn’t allowed near books with anything gorish in them so she can’t help much and Effie… Actually Effie’s probably gonna handle the research but I know Haymitch wants her to freshen up on her hand to hand combat too so…”

Her eyes tracked one of the football’s player aggressive gait as he paraded around a table full of giggling cheerleaders. Not because she cared but because the boy had a tendency to put hands where girls didn’t want them and she wouldn’t have felt guilty about breaking his wrist.

“What about Gale?” Madge asked tentatively. “Are you still fighting?”

She flinched at the sound of his name.

_Katniss, I lov…_

Should she have let him finish his declaration? Did she want him to?

She didn’t think so. Everything was already so complicated and now that he had said it, started to say it, it was even worse. A part of her wanted to hear it because a part of her had liked being kissed by him on the street that night, all those weeks earlier. But that part of her belonged to the Katniss from the past, the one who had followed him with bleary eyes and had trusted him to help her take care of her family. She wasn’t that Katniss any longer. She was the Slayer. And it was obvious Gale would never accept that part of her, would never trust that she could handle herself…

“I will call him if I need him but we’re not… We’re not in a good place right now.” she mumbled, stuffing a big piece of sandwich in her mouth just so Madge had no choice but to change the subject.

The other girl was watching her, a little too knowing. Suddenly she ducked her head, staring at her hands. “I could come help. With research. If you think it would be helpful…”

She frowned but forced herself to swallow what she had in her mouth, not quite opposed to the idea. But Madge had known for a while now and she had never offered to get involved before. “You don’t have to.” 

“If it’s the end of the world, I’m pretty sure everyone should chip in.” Madge joked with nervous giggles but faced with Katniss’ serious expression she shrugged and took a nervous sip of her water bottle. “I’ve been reading the journal about my aunt again and again. Mostly, I know it by heart by now…” Her graceful fingers tugged the paper ring around the bottle until it tore. “I could never fight like her… Or like you. I don’t even want to try, it’s not really… It’s not my thing. But I can’t read about Maysilee, I can’t listen to your stories and not…” She stopped babbling, took a deep breath and flashed her a shaky smile. “I’d like to help. I can… I can help with research. I will text my mom we’re partners on a Biology project and I have to go to your place after school.”

All help was good to get, Katniss figured, and they could use another pair of eyes. “Alright with me if you’re sure. We can drop you off when we go on patrol so your mother doesn’t have to worry about you being out after dark.”

Madge’s smile became easier, less shy. “Good.”

The thought that she should have cleared it with Haymitch shot through her mind but she forgot all about it when she finally spotted Peeta’s blond curls on the cafeteria’s threshold. Their eyes met over the crowded room and, for the length of a heartbeat, the world stopped with everything that hung unsaid between them, then he turned on his heels and fled the room.

He actually _fled _the room.

“Sorry, I need to go.” Katniss growled, grabbing her bag and taking off.

Unfazed by her rude behavior, Madge waved her off. “See you in class!”

Peeta wasn’t running but he certainly was walking fast and it was several minutes before she managed to corner him in the small courtyard.

“So what? You’re going to avoid me forever now?” she tossed at his retreating back, annoyed.

He stopped, squared his shoulders and finally turned around, looking both sheepish and embarrassed. At least, he didn’t have the guts to pretend he hadn’t been avoiding her all day.

“Not _forever.” _he sighed, walking back on his steps to stand closer to her.

There was a strange light noise that made her look up and she spotted dozen of chimes hanging from a leafless tree not too far away. 

“It was an Art project.” Peeta answered her unspoken question. “Heavensbee let Effie hung them here.”

She dismissed the already resolved mystery.

“You need to talk to Haymitch.” she said, point blank.

She had almost done it herself.

When she had come home the previous night and had told her Watcher about Gloss and when, after she was done, he had asked ‘_That’s all? Nothing else?’_, she had almost spilled everything because… She couldn’t let Peeta remain in an abusive situation. She _couldn’t_. Maybe he didn’t realize just how dangerous it was or he just… _couldn’t see _it but _she_ could and she wouldn’t allow it to stand and she _would _have already gone over to the bakery and kicked his mother’s ass if she hadn’t been certain he would never talk to her again if she did just that.

The fear made her skin prickle, tightened her chest… The sensations were so similar to what the fear demon had triggered that she had been forced to stop herself from asking Haymitch several times if he was sure the demon had been killed.

She would _not _lose any more family and that included Peeta.

Peeta’s face closed off immediately. “Can you let this go?”

Her eyes widened in surprise and she almost laughed at the absurdity of his request. But he seemed to wait for an actual answer and so she scowled. “No. _No_, I’m not letting this go. You tell Haymitch or I’m doing it but either way you’re not going back to that house.”

Peeta sneered and it was an ugly thing.

She had never seen him sneer before or get angry, not like that at least and never at her.

“I should never have told you.” he spat. “I thought I could _trust_ you.”

Suddenly, she was angry too. She had never asked to be saddled with anyone else’s problems, she had enough of her own. But Peeta was hers, just like Prim, Haymitch, Effie and Gale were hers and, as a consequence, he was her responsibility.

And she _wouldn’t _fail him.

“Yeah, well, you told me and now I can’t unknow it.” she retorted. “So let me help you or…”

“Or what?” he cut her off. “You will force it on me?” He scoffed. “Can we stop pretending like you care for a minute? I’m only the stand-in for Gale and everyone knows it. Once you’ve decided you…”

“What the hell are you talking about?” she interrupted, her voice rising. In her anger, she took a step closer, stood straighter, must have looked far too dangerous because he _flinched_.

It made her feel like _shit_.

A mix of rage and shame flashed on his face and he looked properly humiliated because he knew she had seen his instinctive reaction.

Her anger deflated at once. “Peeta…”

“I’ll see you later.” he mumbled, hands buried in his pockets.

He turned away and left and she let him go because she didn’t know what else to say. She wasn’t skilled with words. She wasn’t good at comforting people.

The urge to run to Haymitch’s classroom and tell him everything was almost overpowering but…

Peeta would hate her and never trust her again if she did that and she knew it.

She would have to wait. Give him a few hours to cool down and then try talking him into telling her Watcher again. Try to…

_Can we stop pretending like you care for a minute?_

That was unfair. She _did _care. She had told him she cared. Hell, that night she had crawled into his bed, she had told him she… She had said…

She rubbed her eyes and slowly made her way back inside.

She knew her priorities should be the Reaping, the Careers and Snow but…

She had never been good at putting the collective good above the people she loved.


	2. Chapter 2

Haymitch’s attention was divided between the book he was skimming through – angled away from the kid sitting at his side so she wouldn’t see the gorish illustrations – and Prim’s math homework. The girl was smart and self-reliant, she barely needed any help but she asked a question from time to time and he tried to explain to the best of his memories. They were alone in the library and it was quiet and strangely pleasant even though if you had told Haymitch a month earlier than he would end up playing father figure to a twelve year-old, he would have run away so fast he would be halfway across China by then.

He could hear the floorboards crick somewhere in the house where Effie was no doubt pacing as she tried to get through to the Council. He had heard the vague echo of her voice twice already and he had the feeling it wasn’t going well.

He glanced at the clock one more time and then went back to reading, hoping for a mention of a Reaping, whatever it was.

Finally, the front door opened and he straightened, the tense knot between his shoulder blades loosening.

“You’re late!” he barked. The kids should have been there half an hour earlier and he had regretted not waiting for them on the parking lot instead of going straight home on his bike. He had expected them five to ten minutes after him not thirty minutes.

“Yeah, well…” Katniss’ voice snapped back from the corridor and at her tone alone he knew she was in one of her moods. “Peeta skipped Biology and we couldn’t find him anywhere so we didn’t have a ride.”

The use of that _we _made him frown with foreboding and he stared at the door, waiting for them – whoever _they _were to appear – fervently hoping she hadn’t been stupid enough to bring Hawthorne back so soon. Prim looked up too, clearly more interested by this than by her homework.

Katniss strode into the room without even a glance for him, going straight to ruffle Prim’s hair. “How was school, little duck?”

He didn’t hear the kid’s answer because a blond girl had tentatively paused on the threshold, looking around with the same awe everyone always showed when first seeing the old-fashioned library.

For a second, Haymitch’s breath remained stuck in his throat and he couldn’t breathe. _It’s a ghost again_, he thought and then he remembered and he caught the differences – the shape of her chin, the angle of her nose…

Not Maysilee.

Not Maysilee.

_Not_ _Maysilee_, he told himself over and over again firmly, ears ringing.

“Are you listening?” Katniss grumbled, shaking his shoulder and breaking through the strange spell that had fallen on him.

He stopped staring at the poor girl, cleared his throat, rubbed his eyes. “What?”

He sounded gruff and annoyed, he knew, but that was the best he could do under the circumstances.

He had become an expert at avoiding that kid. He glimpsed her in the corridors sometimes, saw her crossing the courtyard with Katniss, drove by her on his bike in the streets near Peeta’s place… He had learned to ignore her like he ignored the ghosts he sometimes dreamed about. It was the only way to cope. The only way to…

“I want to help with the researching.” Madge said, nervous and a little shy. “If it’s alright with you, Mr Abernathy.”

It wasn’t like anyone had asked him if it was alright _before _bringing her to the house, he almost retorted. He did glare at Katniss because she was putting him in a difficult position, like always. First off, he didn’t like the thought of more teenagers involved. Second, he liked the thought of having to deal with Madge _in this house _even less – his first Slayer’s memory was _everywhere _in this house. Third, he couldn’t even send her away because Maysilee would have kicked his ass all the way to Sunday for treating her niece badly when she wanted to help and he could still see her ghost if he closed his eyes, could still…

“Sure.” he forced himself to say, forced himself to smile even though it probably looked more like a cringe. “Grab a book.”

Madge was watching him with a little too much understanding. “Are you sure? It’s okay if… Some days, my mom can’t look at me either.”

That sounded wrong and it was clearly a sore point for the girl.

He took a deep breath, told his brain to think rational thoughts. She wasn’t Maysilee reincarnated. She was just an innocent girl who happened to look a lot like her dead aunt, like his dead Slayer. It was painful for him to be in her presence but no more painful than it was to be back in the Seam or to live in a house he had hoped to never see again.

“Sit down, sweetheart.” he insisted, a little less gruff.

She flashed him a quick shy smile that somehow reminded him more of Prim than of Maysilee. It wasn’t enough to make him relax again but it was a start.

He waited until she had settled down and grabbed one of the books to frown at Katniss. The girl was redoing her ponytail, sitting cross-legged on a chair, a book already open on the table in front of her. She was scowling at the ancient volume. Research wasn’t her favorite hobby.

“Where’s the boy, then?” he asked.

It wasn’t like Peeta not to show up when they needed all hands on deck.

“He had to take a shift at the bakery and cannot join us today.” Effie announced, reentering the room. “He just texted me.” She took stock of who was sitting there and hid her surprise a lot better than Haymitch had done. “Hello, Madge dear.”

The hand that brushed against his shoulder on the way to her seat wasn’t an accident, Haymitch decided and he felt both touched and annoyed by the fact she felt she ought to offer comfort.

“You’re kidding me?” Katniss scoffed.

Effie froze for a second and then frowned at her, clearly puzzled. “I am afraid not. Why?”

“Did you have a fight with Peeta?” Prim asked, not quite pleased by that prospect.

Katniss’ grey eyes found his and Haymitch held her stare long enough to guess she was burning to tell him something, something huge and important. And he had a hutch what it was.

“If you know something, sweetheart, you should _say_.” he offered slowly, carefully. “’Cause until Effie and I _are told_ something_, _legally we can’t do _shit_.”

The witch never slouched but, somehow, she managed to sit even straighter. “Katniss, darling, you can tell us _anything_.”

In the corner of his eye, he saw Prim and Madge exchange a puzzled but worried look. Tension built up in the room like a cloud and he was certain, _so certain _she would come clean… He was sure Effie was ready to bolt and rush to the bakery to retrieve the boy. He was certainly ready to place a call to Heavensbee as soon as she had said the word – he had already done the legwork on that front, reporting his suspicions even though he knew that without any proof there was nothing the principal could do – so the man could call whoever needed to be called.

However, in the end, Katniss averted her gaze and glared at the open book.

“I don’t know anything.” she muttered.

She was the worst liar he had ever met.

“_Katniss_.” he insisted.

“Are we doing research or what?” she shot back, tossing him an angry look.

He desisted only because he glimpsed the shine of tears in her eyes.

He clenched his jaw but turned to Effie who looked thundering. He realized that, maybe, the air wasn’t so thick because of the tension and he reached for her hand, covering it just long enough that she blinked and let out a deep breath. There was a barely audible _pop _and they all could breathe more easily again.

He hoped he was the only one to catch the flash of panic on her face.

“What did they say?” he asked, taking his hand back and aiming for neutral since her magic was back under control.

“Caesar is certain he read about a Reaping somewhere but he could not remember where.” she announced.

“Like me, then.” he groaned.

“He _is_ pretty sure it is a dark ritual though.” she amended. “So he urges us to look in that direction. He, Finnick and Mags are also looking.”

Mags shouldn’t have been doing anything strenuous but he knew better than try to police the old lady. Good luck to Finnick getting her to keep decent hours.

“And?” he pressed when she didn’t add anything else. “What did Coin have to say? You talked to her, yeah?”

She clearly hesitated, her gaze sweeping over the three girls sitting at the table staring at her and waiting for her answer. She pursed her lips, discreetly wiggled her fingers…

He caught the pale glow of a golden halo under the table…

‘_The rest would be better left discussed between you and me.’_

The words echoed directly in his head and he abruptly recoiled, reacting before he registered it was _her_ _voice_, almost falling over his chair in the process. He managed to steady himself at the last possible second – and because Prim had reached out to grab the back of his chair.

“_The fuck?!”_ he spat, glaring at the witch.

She winced. “It’s a spell I have been working on… I thought it might be _quite _useful on patrol.”

“What are you talking about?” Katniss scowled.

Haymitch ignored her, still furious because of the scare the witch had just given him. “Might be. But maybe a little warning next time?”

Effie pursed her lips harder. “If you insist.”

“_What _are you talking about?” their Slayer repeated, obviously getting fed-up with their antics.

“Never mind.” he dismissed. “Leave that book. If it’s a ritual, you won’t find anything in there anyway, try that one.” He checked and passed books around, taking one back from Prim when she eagerly reached for the pile. “Homework.” he reminded her, standing up. “I’m gonna get coffee.”

“Tea for me, please.” Effie hummed.

“Coke.” Katniss grumbled.

“Can I have some orange juice?” Prim added with a beaming smile he couldn’t say no to.

“What am I?” he scowled. “Your waiter?” He shook his head and jutted his chin at Madge. “Want anything?”

“Oh, a coke is alright. Thank you.” she replied, still sounding nervous and shy. Which was on him and his attitude, he supposed.

If only she didn’t look so much like Maysilee, he lamented as he made his way to the kitchen.

_‘Is it more convenient now?’_ Effie’s voice echoed in his head again.

Because he had half-been expecting her to try again, he didn’t startle but it was a close thing.

He placed the electric kettle under the tap and filled it up, not quite sure how he was supposed to answer her… He cleared his throat. “How do I…”

_‘Just think of me and answer. The spell will do the rest.’_ she supplied.

It asked for some focus and he wasn’t sure he would have managed it if he hadn’t had _some _notions of magic. 

_‘Can you read my thoughts? Are you in my head?’_ he asked, flicking the switch that would turn the electric kettle on. He didn’t like the idea of it. He didn’t like the idea of anyone poking around his head, not even her whom he trusted.

_‘No. It does not work like that.’ _ she assured him. ‘_Think of it as a magical walkie-talkie. You need to be within range and it is actually power consuming so I will not be able to keep the spell on for long.’_

It wasn’t as reassuring as she probably wanted it to be.

_‘What did Coin say you don’t want to say in front of the kids?’_

He opened the fridge and fixed the girls’ drinks, trying not to let himself get distracted by thoughts of Peeta who, by all rights, should have been in the library with the others. He hoped the boy was alright because if anything happened to him… The whole thing was frustrating and, more than once in the last few weeks, he had been forced to stop himself from just storming into the bakery and beat his father up to give him a taste of his own medicine.

_‘She wants Katniss to go after the Careers _now_.’ _Effie said, her tone so cold it sent shivers down Haymitch’s spine. Or maybe it was what she was saying. _‘I told her you would have objections, she told me that if you were not willing to follow orders from the Council, I should consider myself in charge.’ _ She stopped, clearly hesitated and then soldiered on. _‘I told her _I _objected. She said that if I was too soft-hearted to see my assignment through a replacement could be arranged.’_

He bundled his hands into fists and resisted the urge to toss the glasses full of soda and juice at the wall.

Somehow, he had always known they would come to this.

_‘So you’re gonna order the girl to go to her death, then?’ _ he asked bitterly.

Not that he would let her, of course, but…

_‘Now, you are being offensive.’ _Her tone was sharp and he couldn’t hear it like that but he was pretty sure she had just huffed. _‘I told her I would do what she asked. I believe we are going on patrol later anyway, are we not? Well, if she believes we are looking for the Careers so Katniss can take her chances now… A little white lie does not hurt.’_

He felt a surge of gratefulness that _Effie _got assigned to them and not another mindless Council drone. Watchers with a conscience were harder to find than one might think in an organization that was supposed to be on the side of good.

_‘Why does she want her dead?’_ he asked next.

It took almost a whole minute for Effie to answer. He finished fixing their drinks and had given up on waiting, musing that she didn’t have a good explanation or that she couldn’t sustain the magical connection anymore, when her voice finally echoed in his head a final time.

_‘President Coin hates rogue Slayers.’ _she said. _‘She also hates everything that challenges her authority. I would say both you and Katniss fall into that last category. Perhaps this is simply politics.” _

With that last word, he felt the spell break, the tingles of her magic, now so familiar, faded away.

It was risking _a lot _for politics.

If Snow rose…

He generously spiked his coffee and carried everything back to the silent library where everyone was reading. Katniss shot him a suspicious glance but he simply lifted his eyebrows in an innocent question and she scoffed and went back to her book.

He waited until he was sure none of the girls would catch it to share a look with Effie.

They certainly had their work cut out for them…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo politcis are in play... How long can Katniss keep Peeta's secret? Madge is in the place... What do you think?


	3. Chapter 3

Effie watched Katniss with her hands on her hips until she was satisfied the girl had found a steady pace.

“What’s even the point?” the Slayer complained for the third time, prompting Prim and Madge who were sitting on the basement’s stairs – with more books for the teenager and more homework for the child – to muffle their giggles.

Effie tossed the girls a disapproving glance, pursed her lips and regarded Katniss with narrowed eyes. Had _she_ been _that _difficult? She needed to send flowers to Caesar. Flowers and an apology note.

“Point is you do what we tell you to do.” Haymitch grumbled from the corner of the makeshift gym where he was inspecting weapons. The weapons had clearly seen better days and could have done with some serious cleaning in her opinion.

“Find a pace and try to keep it.” Effie advised, ignoring him. Katniss glared at her but kept swinging the skip rope, hopping along to an inner rhythm. “It builds endurance. _And_ it is also good for your footwork.”

The skip rope had been the part of training she had liked best when she had still been a teenager. Not extremely taxing, not particularly difficult and not as gruesome as chasing vampires in the dead of night in a dusty English cemetery.

“How’s _your _footwork?” Haymitch challenged, standing up with two swords in hands.

Dread and distrust coiled in her stomach. “I _do _hope you do not expect me to _brawl_.”

It was exactly what he was expecting though, she could see it at how serious his face had become.

“What are you gonna do if we end up cornered by the Careers?” he asked.

“Hide until Katniss dispatches them.” she deadpanned.

“She can set fire to them.” Katniss retorted, more prosaically.

“Well…” she winced, tilting her head to the side. “That was the fear demon increasing my powers…” She doubted she could actually _immolate _a vampire right then. “I _can _toss fireballs at them though.”

She made one appear in the palm of her hand with a twist of her wrist and extinguished it right away, aware her grasp on her magic was a little shaky right then. The cloaking spell the previous night had asked a lot out of her, she was still not quite recovered from her magical exhaustion and the telepathic spell had drained her a little.

“Sure.” Haymitch scowled. “And while you’re tossing fireballs at the one ducking in front of you, one of them’s gonna sneak behind you and dig their fangs in your pretty neck.”

Katniss rolled her eyes, probably at the _pretty _comment.

Effie’s cheeks flushed a little but she jutted her chin in the air, refusing to show she was flustered.

“Haymitch, I _hate _physical fighting.” she hissed.

“I hate your shrill voice. I got used to it.” he retorted, tossing the sword in the air in her direction.

His move was precise, it was designed to fall back hilt first, but it was still enough to make the three girls gasp in alarm.

Effie plucked it from the air easily enough, used to Watchers tossing dangerous blades at her. Caesar had not always made sure the hilt would fall first. And he had also made sure she knew how to duck knives and other sharp objects.

“Keep hopping.” she instructed Katniss, making the sword twirl once in her hand to get a sense of its balance.

It was a bit too heavy for her, perhaps even an inch or two too long, and, as always, her grip was slack because her nails were digging hard into the heel of her hand. She knew already that she was bound to break a nail or two during that pointless exercise and it annoyed her.

“No magic.” Haymitch warned, stepping forward.

“That’s not fair.” the Slayer grumbled, swinging the skip rope again. “With her magic, she’d flatten you in two seconds.”

“Who said life’s fair?” he scowled.

Effie discreetly tested the range of movement her outfit afforded her. It was one of Haymitch’s rules that they trained in street clothes because that was how they would fight during patrol. Her pink velvet shorts were loose enough not to impede her and the white sweater was form-fitting but would not bother her. The long gold necklace though she quickly took off and tossed to Prim who caught it and slipped it over her own head with delight.

“Keeping the heels?” he mocked.

“I need them for balance.” she replied and then she swung the sword because she was all for foreplay but she wanted this over sooner rather than later.

He parried without difficulties and led her on a merry chase. He was obviously holding back, testing her, _tiring _her…

She _hated_ swordplay.

It didn’t mean she was _entirely _useless at it. She _had _been trained by a Watcher legend after all.

“Why did it have to be swords?” she sighed after ten minutes of attacks and parries that were mostly textbook. She was wondering when he would break and finally show off like she knew he could.

“Cause of the gladiator armor thing.” Haymitch shrugged. “If Gloss’ still wearing that, chances are his fighting style’s gonna be roman too. You’re listening, sweetheart?” He chanced a glance at the girl with the skip rope and Effie seized the opportunity by feigning left to hit right, careful because they weren’t using blunt blades. The steel of Haymitch’s sword glided against the length of hers in an unbearable screeching noise. He continued as if nothing had happened. “That means broadswords. Spears. We’re gonna need to keep range.”

“I’ve got the bow.” Katniss commented.

“Lots of good it’s gonna do against an armor.” Haymitch sneered. Then he looked back at Effie, lifting his eyebrows. “You’re warm enough to get serious? Cause I’m falling asleep here.”

She clenched her jaw and adjusted her stance. “Do your best, darling.”

His best was not on par with _her _best.

Because he so obviously surpassed her it wasn’t even _funny_.

In a matter of seconds, she was outmatched and, although she stubbornly refused to surrender or admit defeat, she could see he was holding back even as he forced her to duck, roll on the floor and dance around him like a will-o-the-wisp.

“Aim higher.” he snapped from time to time. “You’re trying to _behead_ me.”

She wasn’t trying to behead him, she was trying to keep her grip on her sword which wasn’t easy because her nails impeded her.

As the fight became more urgent and desperate, sweat dripping in her eyes and making her hair stick to her cheeks, she was vaguely aware that the girls had all stopped doing whatever they were doing to watch.

“Peeta’s going to be sorry he missed this.” Katniss snorted, loud enough to go over the blood rushing in Effie’s ears.

It couldn’t go on forever though.

She was tiring and Haymitch was getting bored of the lesson.

She wasn’t surprised when her sword was flung away, leaving her hand tingling from the flat hit it had just taken, and because she wasn’t surprised, she just rolled with it, ducking under his armed arm and reappearing right against his chest.

The move surprised _him_.

She felt a little bad when she grabbed what was between his legs and squeezed just enough to make him freeze. It wasn’t in her interest to damage it. 

“What the _fuck_…” he spat.

“Drop the sword.” she ordered calmly. He glared at her but there was a spark of _something_ in his eyes… Amusement… Lust… Pride… She wasn’t certain. Once the sword had hit the floor, she flashed him a bright smile. “Do you concede?”

The smirk that stretched his lips was slow and did terrible things to her lower regions.

“Do _you_?” he challenged and she felt the prick of something on her neck. It took her a second to realize it was the point of his knife. She squeezed him harder and he pressed just a little more, not enough to break the skin but enough to let her know he could. “You know…” he muttered in a low voice that _hopefully _didn’t carry to the children. “I love when you do this but maybe not with an audience.”

She didn’t let these words affect her. “It seems we are at a standstill.”

“Are we though?” He snorted,

Before she understood what had happened, he had kicked her leg, twisted her arm to the side to free himself while they both fell and she landed with a huff, her breath snuffed by his heavy weight crushing her to the floor… He had been careful to avert the knife but if he hadn’t had, she would be dead.

She didn’t need him to playfully bite her neck to know she had lost.

She huffed and pushed him off. He rolled to the side easily, laughing a little.

She sat up and turned to the three girls who were watching with expressions ranging from shock to embarrassment. “And _that_, ladies, is why you should never hesitate to knee a man when you have the opportunity.” She tossed Haymitch a glare. He was still lying on his back, his breathing a little heavy but otherwise not particularly sweaty. That was more infuriating than anything else, the fact that he had hardly broken a sweat when she was drenched and disheveled. “Next time, I won’t spare you.”

The look he gave her was too heavy and full of unsaid things. “Never asked you to.” He got back on his feet, picked up the sword and turned to his Slayer. “Ready?”

Effie went to sit on the steps under Madge and Prim, a little vexed, while Katniss took her place in the middle of the room. The girl lacked technique but she had power on her side.

If Effie had Slayer strength…

Prim slide the golden necklace back around her neck from behind and Effie startled a little, not having expected it.

“You were _amazing_.” the girl said.

Effie politely protested for modesty sake but it went a long way in soothing her ruffled feathers.

Haymitch was almost a match for Katniss simply because he had decades of fighting under his belt but, in the end, the Slayer’s power succeeded where Effie’s schemes had failed and she ended up disarming him. He must have challenged her enough though because the girl looked almost happy once he called the end of the training. That, or she enjoyed the violence.

She lost her uplifted mood when came the time to go on patrol though.

“I don’t like leaving her alone.” Katniss stubbornly insisted, glaring at both Watchers. “Why can’t one of you stay?”

Effie looked at Haymitch, willing to let him make the call. She didn’t mind staying behind to keep an eye on Prim even if the girl insisted she would be fine. She could keep on researching the Reaping.

“You can take my car.” she offered half-heartedly. She didn’t like the idea of Katniss and Haymitch going out alone too much in case they _did _stumble on the Careers. Haymitch could say whatever he wanted, her magic could make the difference as weak as it currently was. It could buy them enough time to escape at the very least.

Given a choice, Haymitch would have taken his bike but since they had to drop Madge off that wasn’t a possibility. And he didn’t seem keen on leaving _her _ behind either.

“The Village’s cloaked…” he said slowly. “And no vampire can get to Prim as long as she stays inside anyway.” He made a face. “I want Effie with us out there, sweetheart. It’s the smartest choice.”

She wasn’t sure about that given how easily he had beaten her in the basement.

She wasn’t sure why her pride stung so much. She had always known she wasn’t a good fighter. Caesar had deplored it often enough – and _insisted _she didn’t apply herself enough but she had always been unwilling to sacrifice her nails or her heels to practical considerations.

Not for the first time though, she was wondering how it would have gone down if she had been Called.

Terribly no doubt.

She was still musing about it half an hour later while they patrolled down the narrow lanes of the graveyard. Katniss was out of sight, scooting ahead with her bow, Haymitch had fallen in steps with her and their pace could only be described as a stroll – which had annoyed the Slayer and was why the girl had insisted on going ahead.

“Stop sulking.” he teased. “You didn’t do _that _bad. Average vampire or demon, you could have taken out easy.”

_Average. _

She hated that word.

When she remained silent, he bumped her shoulder with his.

She wanted to sound cheerful, to drown him under her usual optimism, but her thoughts were too gloomy and she allowed herself to be truthful for a moment. “I would have been the shortest Slayer in history.”

He didn’t miss a beat. “You’re _really_ short without the heels but I’m pretty sure one of them was a dwarf. That circus girl? When was it… In the sixties? Fifties?”

She tossed him a chiding look but couldn’t stop her lips from twitching. “You understand perfectly well what I mean.”

He sighed and burrowed in his leather jacket, more annoyed than anything else. “You ain’t a Slayer, sweetheart. Doesn’t mean you’re useless. You’re a witch, play to your strengths.”

“You spent fifteen minutes lecturing me about how my magic would not be enough to protect me.” she snapped.

“Yeah, cause it’s stupid to rely only on one thing.” He shrugged. “I like knives better. Doesn’t mean I can’t use a sword or a crossbow. You don’t survive by being lazy.”

“Still…” she argued.

“Not being a Slayer doesn’t mean you ain’t special.” he grumbled, keeping his gaze straight ahead. She wondered if she imagined the light splotch of colors on his cheeks. “Cause you’re _pretty_ special just on your own.” 

Something swell within her chest and she had the sudden realization that not only was this not casual anymore but that, on her side at least, it was getting serious. Feelings had never been supposed to be part of the equation but…

“You are fairly special too.” she whispered back, a lump in her throat.

“Yeah…” he dismissed. “That’s my bad boy persona. The bike does it all.”

She laughed.

So, obviously, that was when the vampire jumped on them.

Haymitch had his stake out before she could summon a fireball but it didn’t matter because there was the hissing sound of a flying arrow and then nothing but a cloud of dust.

“I’m not sure…” Katniss’ voice called out to them from the top of a vault a few feet away, dripping with sarcasm. “But I _think _my Watcher told me I should _focus _when I’m on patrol.”

“What a clever man, he is!” Haymitch shot right back, smirk still on his lips. “Did he also tell you about him playing bait?”

“When did _I_ agree to be bait?” Effie frowned, not quite happy with that.

“_Sure_, you are.” Katniss scoffed and disappeared in the shadows again.

All in all, it was a quiet night.

They got a few more vampires but the Careers remained invisible.

Katniss shot out of the car and across the street to check on her sister as soon as Effie had parked in her driveway. Haymitch was slower in exiting the car.

For a while they stared at the outer wall of her house through the dashboard.

“You’re coming in?” he asked eventually but the question didn’t sound quite… genuine.

She knew why. She didn’t feel like waiting until both girls had gone to bed and even longer to make sure they were asleep, pretending to do research – _actually_ doing research – and then sneak back out once the deed was done for another walk of shame… She could tell him to come by later and he would and he would probably be more enthusiastic about it than she currently was.

But the question seemed to hang between them…

_Are we still casual?_

The answer seemed so obvious that his insistence that they _were _was…

“Not tonight.” she refused, making sure to keep her tone soft. She didn’t want a confrontation right then. Truth be told she was tired and… “Have you heard from your friend?”

The warlock who had helped him and Maysilee to banish Snow to a hell dimension was famous in some circles and she was eager to have a chat with him. She wanted him to tell her Haymitch was wrong or that the whole powerful magic thing had been a fluke, that she was simply… Well… _Average_. When it came to magic, she didn’t mind that term.

Ambitious as she was, she could recognize there were fields were it was safer _not_ to excel.

“Not yet.” He sighed and silence fell back inside the car. It was several minutes before he broke it. “It was weird having Madge here. Too much like…”

Too much like seeing Maysilee’s ghost.

She reached for his hand and squeezed. He squeezed back and then reached for the flask in his inner pocket. He took two sips and then offered it to her. She declined with a brief shake of her head.

“If President Coin reassigns me I will have no choice but to leave.” she declared.

“You always have a choice.” he countered. “You could stay.”

She consciously ignored the fact he had spent the last week trying to convince her she would be safer back in England.

“And what?” she scoffed. “Give up my career as a Watcher? What would I do? _Teach Arts_?”

“Freelance demon hunter ain’t so bad.” He shrugged. “Won’t get rich but… Plenty of Potentials end up that way.”

“In case you have not noticed, I am not the kind of person who enjoys backpacking alone all over the country.” she snapped. She didn’t mind being sent on assignments all over the world but she preferred to travel in style and to stay in five stars hotels.

“Didn’t say you’d have to do it _alone_…” he remarked and then made a face. “Besides… It doesn’t have to be _backpacking_. Chaff and I have been talking about opening a business before I got called back in to play Watcher. Something more local, we’re getting too old to go adventuring around the world. The Seam ain’t the only Hellmouth, you know. Plenty of jobs for people who are in our line of work.”

“I have no particular desire to live in Cleveland.” she retorted.

Nobody wanted to go to that Hellmouth, not because it was the worst but because it was _Cleveland. _

“How about Paris?” he challenged. “’Cause Chaff’s mainly Europe based these days so…”

_Paris_.

She _loved _Paris.

Paris made her dream like nothing else. In another life…

“Are you offering me a job once…” Her sentence trailed off. The only way this could happen was if their Slayer died and while it seemed inevitable in the long run, she wasn’t ready to entertain the thought.

“I’m just saying the Council ain’t your only option.” he said flatly. “Wouldn’t be prestigious but it’d still be saving lives. _And _you get to keep your conscience clean on top of it.”

Her heart was beating fast in her chest as she imagined her mother’s reaction if she told her she was leaving the Council of Watchers to settle down at a demon hunting agency. More importantly, she imagined Caesar’s disappointed face and she wasn’t certain she had it in her to disappoint her former Watcher once more. He didn’t have children to take up the Watcher mantle after him, she was responsible for his legacy, the same way Haymitch was spiritually Mags’ heir. It was important in Watchers circles. She had been taught since the start it was important.

“Just food for thought.” he concluded, putting a final end to that discussion. “Night, Princess.”

“Goodnight.” she whispered, leaning in to kiss him without thinking.

He kissed back. A chaste peck.

That too didn’t seem very casual.

She let herself in her house that felt too big, too dark and too empty. It wasn’t as welcoming as she would have liked but she compensated by pouring herself a glass of wine, kicking off the heels that were now killing her and gracelessly flopping down on the couch since no one was there to see her do it. With a sigh, she dragged a book closer and started looking for any sign of anything called _the_ _Reaping_ again, pretty sure Haymitch was doing the same on the other side of the street.

Her glass was long empty and she was trying not to doze off because she really needed a shower when frantic hammering echoed at her door.

She startled awake, her eyes passing over the mess of open magic books scattered over the coffee table and half the floor, the IPad that had long gone dormant, the full ashtray, the half-empty packet of cigarettes, and then darted to the clock. It was well past one in the morning.

Her first thought was that Haymitch had an itch to scratch.

Her second was that Haymitch wouldn’t have kept hammering like that except in case of emergency and sex _wasn’t _an emergency.

She stood up, a little nervous, and made her way to the front door, checking she still had a stake wedged at the back of her shorts. She also made sure her right hand was free in case she needed to summon something fast.

The hammering stopped immediately once she opened the door but only because the person responsible for it fell into her arms.

She stumbled back, surprised by the unexpected weight but quickly grabbed the boy who was clinging to her and sobbing his heart out.

“I did something bad.” Peeta repeated over and over again. “I think I killed her. I did something bad.”

The chill that ran down her spine had nothing to do with cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens... Who did Peeta kill? What has he done? Will hayffie hightail to Paris with their kids in toe to escape justice? XD Let me know your thoughts!


	4. Chapter 4

The boy was sobbing his heart out, his face buried in her neck, and for a few seconds, all Effie could do was hold him as blood rushed to her ears, deafening her to everything else.

_I think I killed her_.

Her gaze finally darted to the house across the street, her first thought being _Katniss_ because she was the only significant _her _in Peeta’s life she knew about.

_ I think I killed her_.

Haymitch’s house was dark, absolutely no sign anyone was still awake or of an ongoing disaster.

She took a deep breath, tightened her embrace despite the fact Peeta was already clinging to her hard enough that her ribs were starting to hurt and gently petted the back of his head.

“Peeta, darling, what are you talking about?” she asked. She got no answer. It was like the boy was crying out years worth of tears. He swayed a little, slumped harder on her… She barely managed to keep them both upright. “Peeta, you need to calm down, sweetie. It will be alright. _Everything_ will be alright. I need you to work with me now, alright? We cannot stay here.”

Was it the forced calm in her voice or how reassuring she managed to sound? She wasn’t sure but she felt him nod against her shoulder and he didn’t resist when she steered him toward the couch after toeing the front door shut.

He collapsed on the couch and immediately bent in two, hiding his face in his hands, still crying hard, still falling apart, breathing so loudly that Effie was half afraid he would make himself sick. She hastily pushed away the rare expensive books just in case and then kneeled next to him, rubbing his back, feeling at a loss…

“Can you explain to me what happened, darling?” she asked gently. “Is someone hurt? Did you have an accident?”

She hadn’t heard his truck, she realized, had he _run _all the way there?

A massive shudder made his whole body twitch and he hiccupped a few times. She patiently watched him try to get himself under control, rubbing his back until he finally dropped his hands and looked at her. His cheeks were _bathed _with tears, he was sweaty and there was something a little feverish to his puffy eyes. There was also a quickly darkening bruise on his cheek.

Above all though, it was the hopeless despair that made her heart clench.

“Look at the state you are in…” she gently chided, clucking her tongue. She reached for his cheek, to assess the damage and, perhaps, to heal it with a touch of magic, but he flinched. She immediately froze, her hand hovering next to his face, feeling sick to her stomach because she knew what that reaction meant. She did her best to control the growl in her voice, to make sure it wouldn’t be mistaken as any sort of anger against him. The shame that flashed on his face was hard to bear. “I will just heal the bruise, then, shall I?”

She sounded breathless to her own ears, her voice strangled.

Her hand started to glow when she silently worked the spell and she passed it over his cheek while he watched in shock.

“You need to tell me who hurt you, Peeta.” she said and she didn’t leave room for negotiations this time. Her tone was firm, determined. “This _cannot_ go on. I will _not_ allow it. We gave you as much time as I am comfortable giving.”

He needed to _tell _her so she could storm that bakery and burn it down to the ground. And burn it she _would_. With the man responsible for his injuries inside.

The fury swelled inside her chest and her fingers glowed brighter and brighter until she was forced to take a deep breath and remind herself she was _not _as powerful as Haymitch liked to think she was. It had all been a fluke, she was in control and her magic would _not _take over. Even when she was lost in the midst of a vengeful wrath.

“I think I killed her.” Peeta mumbled again, his voice breaking in the middle of the sentence. “I’m a monster. I… I’m a _monster_.”

“You are certainly _not_ a monster.” she countered, grasping his hand and squeezing even when he flinched again. “You…”

“Yeah, I am.” Peeta insisted, still fighting to even his breaths. Tears were still rolling down his cheeks. “Ever since the fear demon… The anger… I couldn’t… I couldn’t shake it off. And then… Katniss and… Tonight…” He shook his head. “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t _mean _to, Effie… But maybe I _did_ a little…”

He broke down in sobs again.

_He didn’t hurt Katniss_, she told herself again. Katniss was fine and asleep next to Prim across the street.

Still, she discreetly wriggled her fingers to work another spell, immediately feeling the cost of it taking its toll. She felt faint and dizzy.

_“Haymitch.” _ She reached across the street for his mind. The silent communication spell was one she had been looking at for a while but it was taxing and the distance only increased the difficulty. It had been hard to sustain when there had only been a corridor between them, a street, two yards and she didn’t know how many rooms were _too much_. And, to add insult to injury, he appeared to be _asleep_. She couldn’t get a good hold on his mind, it was slippery. _“HAYMITCH!”_ she thought louder, with all the magical strength she could muster.

She imagined him jumping awake, knife slashing at an invisible opponent…

It took a few seconds before she got an answer.

_“STOP DOING THAT.”_ His thought was loud enough to make her wince with the beginning of a headache. _“What the fuck do you want?”_

_“Check on Katniss.” _she demanded.

_“Why?”_ he replied and she hoped he was already getting out of bed and going because she wouldn’t be able to sustain the spell for much longer and Peeta was still falling apart in front of her. She didn’t explain. She simply waited, biting the inside of her cheek, gathering every ounce of her power… _“She’s fine.” _he told her finally. _“Asleep. Both of them. What’s going on?”_

_“I have a situation here with Peeta.” _ she said, knowing her voice was probably sounding faint to him because the spell was slipping away from her. _“We are safe. Don’t come. Not yet. I will text you.”_

The spell broke with a snap that made her whole body jerk. Fortunately, she didn’t think Peeta noticed. Her attention on her immediate surroundings again, she squeezed the boy’s hand.

“Peeta, darling, who do you think you hurt?” she whispered. “You have to tell me in case someone out there needs help.”

She couldn’t imagine _Peeta_ assaulting a random girl for the fun of it. And yet when the fear demon had had them under his control… The fight with Gale had been terrible to watch. She could understand losing control better than _anyone_ else.

“I’m a monster…” he whispered again. “I’m _bad. _I’m… I’m _bad, _Effie.”

“No, you are not.” she insisted. “We did a cloaking spell yesterday, didn’t Katniss tell you about that? Bad people… _Monsters _would _never_ be able to find the Village now. Never mind _enter_ it. See? You are _not_ bad, darling. What you are is _exhausted _and _upset_. And perhaps even in shock.”

She reached for the plaid that resided on the back of the couch purely for decoration sake and wrapped it around him. Her head was spinning but she resolutely pushed it aside. She would have to stop casting complicated spells for a while if she didn’t want to end up in a magical exhausted coma once more.

He grabbed the thin blanket and burrowed a little into it, licking the tears off his lips. He wiped his cheeks on his sleeve and she made a small face, barely stopping herself from telling him off for not using a handkerchief.

“I… I don’t want to be like her. I _don’t_…” he confessed, his voice hoarse. He needed fluids, she noted, but she didn’t want to leave him alone to fetch some water just yet.

“Like who?” she insisted.

“My mom.” he finally breathed out in a shudder.

What she immediately thought was that perhaps he was not the only one being abused in that household and that Peeta viewed his mother accepting the situation as weakness. That was the typical pattern, at least.

“Is your mother hurt?” she asked, already looking around the living-room for the phone she didn’t remember even taking out of her purse earlier. “Did your father hurt her?”

“My father…” he repeated slowly, as if he was too tired to properly understand. He dropped his head in his hands again, pressing the heels against his eyes. “I pushed her down the stairs.”

Effie froze.

She froze, swallowed, re-evaluated…

“You…” She cleared her throat. “You _what?_”

“She was in one of her moods… She hit me again.” he droned out flatly, lacking any sort of energy whatsoever. “I told her to stop… I told her… I was _so_ angry. I pushed her. I didn’t mean… I didn’t think of the stairs… I just…” He rubbed his eyes and then met her gaze and held it. “I’m like her. I didn’t want to be like her but I _am_… I did the same thing she would. I hurt her instead of…”

_It wasn’t the father_.

Effie took the information in stride. “Did you call 911?”

He shook his head. “Dad told me to go, that he would take care of it, that I couldn’t stay there.”

“Was she alive?” she asked because she had to.

His eyes filled with tears again but he didn’t break down in sobs that time. She suspected he didn’t have any energy left for that. “I don’t know…”

“Alright.” she said firmly, taking charge. She stood up too quickly and had to reach for the couch’s armrest to steady herself…

“Are you alright?” he asked, sounding so worried…

How could that boy believe himself to be anything but _good_? Even right then in the midst of a personal tragedy, he was concerned about someone else’s wellbeing…

“Of course, do not worry.” She flashed him one of her cheerful smiles and cautioned him to stay where he was for a moment. She fetched a bottle of water and her purse. “Type your father’s number for me, please, darling. We will check on your mother for your peace of mind. I am certain everything is fine.”

She _hoped _everything was fine because as much as she wanted to see that woman with a broken neck she didn’t want Peeta to have to bear the guilt of it for the rest of his life.

She forced him to drink the water slowly so he wouldn’t upset his stomach while she waited for the call to dial. It went to voicemail so she dialed it again. And again. And again.

Mr Mellark only picked up on the fifth attempt and he didn’t sound pleased. “_Ye_s?_ Who’s this?_”

“Mr Mellark, I am Peeta’s Art teacher.” She introduced herself without flourish, her voice taking a sharp angry edge that made the boy flinch. She forced herself to soften it, if only a little, to assume a front of cold politeness. “Peeta is extremely distressed and I would very much appreciate it if you could give me news of his mother’s wellbeing.”

There was such a long pause on the other end of the line that she thought for a minute that he had hung up on her.

_“Art teacher, you said?”_ the man said slowly, clearly nervous. _“Look, I don’t know what Peeta told you…”_

“Enough.” she hissed through her teeth, managing to keep a lead on her temper only because the boy was staring at her. “He told me _enough_. Please, do answer my question.”

_“It was my fault.” _Mr Mellark said quickly. _“Liddy is fine. I startled her, she lost her balance and she stumbled down the stairs but she’s fine. Just a bruised hip. Whatever my son said…”_

“Oh, we will have _words _about what your son has to say, _never fear._” she snapped, before reaching for Peeta’s hand. “Your mother is alright, darling. I will put the kettle on, shall I? Some chamomile will do you good. And perhaps a sandwich? Are you hungry?”

Peeta shook his head but she could see some of the tension leaving him. He curled up against the armrest of the couch and she bit back a comment about his dirty sneakers on her brand new sofa before standing up. She waited until she was in the kitchen and she was certain he couldn’t hear her anymore before speaking again.

“I hope you understand I will _not _allow this to continue _any _longer.” she snarled. “You put him in a situation where he had to hurt someone to defend himself and I will _not _have it. He is _deeply _upset. And with good reason. And that’s _without _talking of the various scars and injuries he suffered in the _oh so tender _care of your wife.”

_“Do you really think it would be better for him to be sent into the system? To be put in foster care?” _ Mr Mellark retorted. “_I do my best. I… I do my best.”_

“Well. _Clearly_, your best is _not _enough.” she growled. “You can expect to hear from me again tomorrow. It goes without saying I will _not_ allow Peeta to go back to your household.”

She hung up before the man could remind her she had no legal right to forbid Peeta to do anything and, above all, that she had no power to stop _him _from recalling his son home. She also preferred to put an end to the conversation before she gave in to the urge to hex the baker and his wife to hell and back.

She prepared Peeta’s infusion, fixed him a sandwich even though he had said he wasn’t hungry and carried the tray back to the living-room. The boy had curled up further on her couch, half asleep.

_Exhausted_, more likely than not.

He _had _suffered from a concussion less than a week earlier. 

“Here you go, dear.” She placed the tray on the coffee table with a small smile.

“Are you sure she’s alright?” he whispered, rubbing his face as he sat up. “I didn’t… I just got _so _angry…”

She frowned “Peeta, listen to me.” She sat down next to him on the couch and squeezed his shoulder. “You were only defending yourself. You did _nothing_ wrong. In fact, if the same situation ever arises again, I _expect _you to do the very same thing. You should _never _let anyone hurt you. _Never_.”

The boy swallowed hard. “She never loved me. I don’t know what I did to her. She never… She loved my brothers just fine. It’s _me_ she…” He shuddered. “I don’t want to be like her. I don’t want to have all that _anger_ I can’t control. I…”

“You are _nothing _like her.” she promised, shaking her head. “You could _never_ be like her.”

He reached for the cup of chamomile, cradled it between his hands, his shoulders slouched… “You’re going to tell Haymitch.”

“Yes.” She didn’t see the point in lying. “Although I suspect he already knows. We were… waiting for you to come to us, Peeta.”

“I didn’t want anyone to know.” he whispered, closing his eyes. Shame and anger battling on his face. “I shouldn’t have told Katniss. I don’t know why I did. After… After it was like there was no point keeping the secret anymore and now…”

“Now, you will be _safe_.” she finished slowly when he let his sentence trail of. “Tomorrow we will go to the police…”

“No.” he snapped, clutching the cup harder. So hard she was almost afraid it would break.

“I am sure Haymitch will come with us if you would prefer him to…” she insisted.

“_No_.” he repeated, his voice rising. He wasn’t _quite _glaring at her but it was close. “I don’t want… I don’t want to go to the police. I don’t want my family to have problems.”

Effie licked her lips, lifted her chin a little because when in doubt… When in doubt, she had been taught you kept your chin high, your eyes bright and you smiled. But there was very little to smile about right then.

“Your family _hurt_ you. What they did was _wrong_.” she countered. “And for that, there needs to be consequences.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want that. And you don’t get it… My mom’s on the town council. It’s not… They’ll never believe _me_. She’s a good councilwoman. People _like_ her. My brothers will take her side. _Everyone_ will take her side.”

“Peeta, I understand this is difficult but…” she pressed.

“_No_.” he hissed. “And if you try to get me to talk to the police I will just tell them you’re _lying_. You healed the bruise. There’s no proof anymore.”

She pursed her lips. “Peeta…”

“Are you going to _force _me?” he challenged.

That was a _very _good question to which she didn’t yet have an answer. She wanted him safe and out of that house but to steal his agency even further by taking the choice to seek justice away from him…

“I am willing to wait until you are ready.” she replied calmly after a moment. “_However_, you will be staying with me until further notice. Or with Haymitch if you would prefer that arrangement but this is _non-negotiable_. You are _not _going back there. Are we clear?” He opened his mouth to answer but she lifted a hand. “And before you say anything and so you have all the facts, let me tell you that if you choose to disobey me and go back, the next time I see a bruise, a burn or a _hint _that your mother has touched you, I will personally turn her into a cockroach and stomp on her.” She did smile this time and, perhaps, it was a chilling smile but it was also genuinely felt. “See? I am not certain which one of us is the real monster here. I would kill her without a second thought for having hurt you.”

She held Peeta’s tired blue gaze until he finally lowered it to the cup of chamomile. “I’m still so angry… Aren’t you scared I will hurt you next?”

Her smile softened. “Not in the least. As for the anger…” She touched his arm. “I would advise you not to let it fester… You do _not_ want to end up a bitter grumpy man like Haymitch, after all.”

The joke had the desired effect and his lips twitched a little. But not long and not a lot. He took a sip of the chamomile and rubbed his eyes again.

“Haymitch’s a hero.” he mumbled. “Ending up like him wouldn’t be so bad.”

“Let’s not tell him that. His head is big enough.” she teased. The boy looked ready to crash and she sighed. “I will go upstairs and get the guest room ready for you.”

“I’m fine on the couch.” he protested. “It’s late. I don’t want to bother you.”

“It’s no bother.” she denied and then hesitated. “And if you choose to stay here with me… We can paint it, you know. I understand pink is not your favorite color.” 

He flashed her a tired smile and she had the feeling she was pressuring him too much so when he told her again he was fine on the couch for the night, she reluctantly accepted. She grabbed her phone on her way to the stairs, took the quickest shower in history and then settled in her bed, fighting sleep but knowing Haymitch must have been digging a hole with his pacing on the other side of the street.

‘_I may just have blackmailed Peeta into letting me adopt him by threatening to murder his mother if he went back to his family.’ _she typed.

She hit send and dropped her head on the pillow, stared at the ceiling and let out a long deep sigh.

_This _was certainly not the type of complications she had envisioned when she had been sent on this particular mission.

It was probably also very telling that Haymitch objected neither to the blackmail nor to the threats.

_‘Ur telling me it was the mother?’_ his text read.

It sickened her only to think about it. It was just as wrong when a father abused his child, of course, but to think a _mother _would do something like that to her son…

‘_He accidentally pushed her down the stairs earlier.’_ she explained. ‘_She’s fine. Unfortunately.’_

_‘The kid?’_ he texted back immediately.

‘_Upset.’_ she typed back and then winced. ‘_Ashamed. I think you should talk to him at breakfast tomorrow. He looks up to you a lot.’_

_‘Sure’_ he answered within a minute. ‘_U ok?’_

She took a moment to ponder that. Was she? She was upset too. _Furious_, even.

_‘He doesn’t want to go to the police.’ _ she texted. ‘_I want to feed her to a lamia demon.’_

Lamias were monstrously ugly and digested their victims while they were still alive. A slow excruciating death. Fitting.

It took longer for Haymitch to answer. _‘Lamia r tricky. Maybe we can push her in a vampire nest’_

She smiled in relief that he didn’t think her a monster for contemplating killing a human.

They traded a few more messages planning gruesome murders until she fell asleep.

Unsurprisingly, she had nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo Peeta's mom isn't dead BUT that's only temporary if Effie has something to say about it XD What did you think of this chapter? (I know I promised everlark, it is coming do not worry next chapter we are going to have a... shall we say furry problem?).


	5. Chapter 5

Peeta woke up from his nightmare with a strangled scream, rolled off the couch to a crouch and stared at the unfamiliar shadows with no clue whatsoever as to where he was.

This wasn’t his bedroom.

It wasn’t his house.

The simmering disgust in his stomach made him even more dizzy and it was several wild seconds before he finally recognized the layout of Effie’s living-room in the dark. He rubbed his face while his anarchic heartbeat slowed down to something a little less life threatening. He could taste bile at the back of his throat, his skin felt clammy and beads of cold sweat were running down his spine…

When he recalled the reason he was there in the first place, he felt like throwing up for real.

Slowly, he sat back down on the couch and forced himself to stay still, to _listen _in case he had woken up the woman with his wild thrashing and his muffled shouting.

The whole house was silent.

The silence had a peculiar quality to it, a different kind than the hush that fell at his own home at night, but then again, he supposed each house had its own rhythm. After several minutes, when it became clear Effie wouldn’t come investigate, he let himself relax a little, wiped his sweaty face on his sleeve and switched on the light, unable to face the surrounding darkness.

He knew she meant well but she could be overwhelming and he didn’t want to talk right then. He didn’t want to rehash the whole _abuse _thing. He didn’t want to hear about going to the police or pressing charges or whatever it was she wanted him to do. In his experience, his parents being who they were, it never paid out to talk about it. Accidents were accidents, no matter that they had happened on purpose or not. The Seam was a small town. Small towns had their own set of rules.

_It wouldn’t be that bad to stay at her place though… _

He had been so _jealous _when Haymitch had taken Katniss and Prim in… Not outwardly, of course. He had been glad for his friends, happy that the girls would find something a little more stable than a mother who couldn’t be bothered to get help and a crappy trailer but… A part of him had been deadly jealous because he would have given everything for…

Would his father go along with it? Would he let him stay with Effie? Could _he _impose on her like that? It was normal for Haymitch to want to take Katniss in, she was the Slayer, she was important… Perhaps the most important person on this planet but _Peeta_… Peeta was _nobody _and it wasn’t right to add to their burden by…

And what if what had happened earlier happened again?

The Lachnoc demon had shined light on a part of his mind Peeta would have preferred to remain ignorant of. He had almost beaten Gale to a pulp, he had very nearly hurt Effie and now… Now that the fear demon’s influence was supposed to be gone, he didn’t seem to be able to shed that anger that had driven him to violence.

When his mother had raised her fist earlier all he had felt was _fury_. Its hot taste had filled his mouth, it had wrapped itself around him until his sight went red and he wanted to…

A shiver rocked his body. He was cold but he didn’t think it was what had triggered the chill.

He couldn’t live like that. Afraid of himself. Afraid he would hurt someone in a fit of anger. Afraid he would turn into his mother.

He _couldn’t_.

It made him sick to the stomach to just think about it happening again. And yet he could still feel the anger deep down, simmering for now but ready to boil and overflow at a moments notice… 

He couldn’t live like that.

He didn’t want to hurt anyone. He didn’t want to…

His eyes darted around, fell on the ashtray and the empty glass of wine first and then on the books scattered around the living-room floor. She was such a neat freak – for something so full of colors, the house was always perfectly ordered – that the slight mess was incongruous and brought his rising panic to a stop. She must have been in the middle of doing researches when he had barged in on her.

So not only had he bothered her but he had also stopped her from doing something far more important than taking care of him was…

Something he should have been helping with in the first place instead of hiding from Katniss’ worried gaze.

Guilt and shame and anger at his own stupidity swelled in his chest.

He grabbed the first book he found thinking he might as well try and find out something about the Reaping since he obviously wasn’t going to go back to sleep. He opened the book at a random page and then froze because…

_Magic_.

Magic could take care of the problem for him. If he could make his anger vanish… If he could remove that monstrous part of himself his mother had passed unto him…

He wouldn’t be dangerous then.

He would never accidentally hurt Katniss or Effie or even his own mother ever again.

He would be in complete control.

He would…

_Magic always comes with a price_, Effie’s voice warned in his head.

But it might be a price he was willing to pay.

Slowly, he closed the book and carefully placed it on the coffee-table before standing up to inspect the IPad she had left on an armchair. There were books lining the shelves all around the living-room, of course, obscure old tomes and leather bound spell books, but it would take him forever to find what he was looking for when he knew she kept thousands of magic volumes on her tablet…

He brought it to life by pressing the button, happy to see it was an older model and didn’t require her fingerprint. It didn’t request any code either. It opened for him as if it was fate itself and he quickly tapped on the book app, staring down at the numerous books and PDFs.

He tried a few quick searches with _anger management, uncontrollable wrath _and_ emotions _but it was the terms _inner monster _that brought out the most promising results. There were books about embracing your inner monster – that seemed to be about summoning some kind of demons – and he bypassed those quickly, eventually opening the one titled: _Conquering Your Inner Monster: Get Rid Of Those Pesky Feelings_.

He skimmed over the theoretical framework with a touch of excitement. _This _sounded exactly like what it needed. There were several spells aimed at dispelling some of someone’s most disturbing emotions. There was a chapter entirely devoted to heartbreak that explained how to summon a vengeance demon – he scrolled quickly away from it, no demon sounded like a good idea – a couple of chapters about various memory spells and, last but not least, a dissociative spell.

Peeta read the description quickly and sighed in relief. This sounded _perfect_. The spell was supposed to take one’s strongest feeling and _banish _it from one’s mind, leaving the subject free of living the rest of their life without being annoyed by it again.

He didn’t bother to read the footnotes, too relieved at the prospect of never being overcome by blind wrath again. There was a list of ingredients. He studied it attentively and then raided the cupboard where Effie kept her magical supplies – and because she was Effie Trinket, everything was perfectly organized and neatly labeled. He ignored the guilt, telling himself he would buy more or pay her back the next day, once he would be at peace and anger free.

He had been reading so much about magic and the occult in the last few months that following the instructions wasn’t complicated at all. A little voice, at the back of his mind, whispered he was being an idiot and that Haymitch would be _livid _when he would find out and that there would be hell to pay if Effie figured it out but he crushed its objections in the bud because, after all, they never had to know.

He sprinkled the crushed salamander powder into a stone bowl, added the other stuff, lit the candle, uttered the Latin spell in a low voice that, he hoped, wouldn’t carry upstairs, and then blew out the flame.

Nothing happened. Nothing felt different.

It figured.

There were several explanations, of course. Maybe he had gotten something wrong with the ingredients. Maybe he had butchered the Latin pronunciation.

Or maybe he simply had _zero _magical talent.

Effie had explained to him time and time again that anyone could do little spells but that it took power to do something a little more ambitious. Maybe this was too ambitious.

Stubbornly, he read the spell again, trying to stress new syllables, playing around with the sound of some words…

Afterwards, he wouldn’t have been able to say how long the creature had been hunched in the corner, studying its prey, only that when it finally signaled its presence with a low growl, every hair on his body went _up_.

The beast had the form of a huge dog – huge as in the size of a small pony. Its fur was the exact same sandy shade of blond as Peeta’s hair and its eyes… Its eyes were human. Worse. They were Peeta’s eyes.

There was a feeling of _wrongness _as soon as he glimpsed the snarling monster.

When it pounced, all slobbering fangs, Peeta scrambled back with an instinctive shout, looking around for a weapon… The dog crashed on the coffee table that broke to smithereens under its weight, and immediately turned back to him, snapping his jaws…

There was no weapon around.

_How could there be no weapons around in a Watcher’s house?_

Haymitch had a trunk in every room, including the bathrooms _and_ the toilets. He would have to talk to Effie about safety.

If he survived the dog.

_And_ the pissed off witch who charged into the living-room, wearing nothing but tangerine frilly shorts and a matching light camisole. Her choice of sleepwear was more than he wanted to know about her.

Frost crept all over the beast before it could jump on him again and Peeta used the respite to get back on his feet.

“Where did he come from?!” Effie asked. The dog shuddered and the thin coat of ice that covered him broke. “_Dammit_!” she uncharacteristically spat, lifting both hands in front of her. Her eyes flashed gold. “Peeta, run!”

He did run, straight to the armory full of weapons he had admired so long the last time he had been there. Behind him, he heard a snarl, a crash and a shout of pain followed by another _deafening _sound… He hesitated in front of the weapons, Effie’s warnings ringing in his ears… _Never use one without my say so_, she had said, _some can be more dangerous than demons… _

There were more shouts and with a curse he grabbed the hilt of one of the swords on display and rushed back to the living-room.

The living-room that was now missing a wall…

The window was gone, there was a huge hole in its place. Effie was standing on the gap leading to the street, barefoot in the middle of the rubbles, blood dripping down from deep claw marks on her arm and she had her hands raised again. She was visibly shaking.

Peeta ducked under her arm and took stock of what was happening outside. The dog was thrashing, its huge paws encased in ice… Haymitch wearing nothing but boxers was trying to get close enough on one side to hit it with his knife but the beast was too good at avoiding any kind of direct hit and almost snapped his arm off with its terrible jaw… Katniss, in an oversized tee-shirt that, for whatever reason since she wasn’t a fan to his knowledge, had Liza Simpsons on it was trying to get a good shot with her bow but was having difficulties with the beast twisting and turning and Haymitch being so close… Prim was huddling next to Haymitch’s front door, holding a crossbow with obvious unease…

Peeta jumped into the fray, rounding the beast on the opposite side as Haymitch.

“What did you…” Effie frowned when she spotted what he was holding. “Be careful with that sword, it is…”

Her whole body seized and the words died in the back of her throat.

“Effie!” Haymitch called with obvious concern. The distraction cost him dearly when the dog managed to free one of its huge paws and swiped in his direction. The Watcher leaped back but not quickly enough to avoid the claws that scratched his bare chest.

“I can’t…” the witch said… Then her eyes rolled back and she collapsed on the heap of broken glass and pieces of wood. She tried pushing herself up again but she was shaking and her nose was badly bleeding.

The ice vanished as if it had never been there.

Peeta swung his sword toward the dog that leaped away but snarled at him.

Katniss finally found a good shot and let an arrow loose.

It found its target right over the right front paw.

It didn’t seem to bother the dog but Peeta fell to his knees with a pained cry, an agonizing burning throb reverberating down his right arm. The sword slipped from his numb fingers and he barely had enough presence of mind to roll to the side when the beast tried to take a bite out of him again. The pain didn’t lessen.

Haymitch’s sword opened a gash on the dog’s flank and it was Peeta who roared, pressing a hand against his side. It came away wet with blood.

Peeta met the Watcher’s eyes over the beast’s back.

“What the _fuck’s_ happening?” Katniss shouted, nocking another arrow.

“Don’t shoot!” Haymitch ordered, lifting his left hand in her direction to bodily tell her to stop.

The dog tried pouncing on Peeta again and he rolled away for the second time with a sick feeling deep in his stomach.

“Oh, _shit_…” he spat. The fur, the eyes… His hair, his eyes…

The spell…

His spell…

“The _fuck_ did you do?” Haymitch snarled. Peeta was a little too busy avoiding ending as a dog snack to answer at once and when he tried to open his mouth to explain, he realized the man wasn’t talking to him. He had directed his question to the witch who was struggling to haul herself to her knees. And he looked extremely pissed. “Is this a protection spell gone wrong? Did you do something? Trinket! Focus for _fuck’s_ sake!”

Effie shook her head either to clear her mind or to refute his accusation.

“It was me.” he confessed, avoiding another of the dog’s lunging attack.

“What?” Katniss was suddenly in front of him with a stake that seemed far too small to tackle such a beast. “What did you say?”

“It was me!” he repeated louder. It was as if a hush had fallen over the street as they all stared at him – even the dog was staring at him and that was the key wasn’t it? “It’s me you want.” he told the beast. “Right? It’s me you want so _leave them alone_!” That was the last thing he wanted, for the people he loved, this makeshift family they had made, to be hurt because of his own stupidity. The dog was all wrath. _His_ wrath. His inner monster. “Come and get me!”

He started running, holding his bleeding side, his right arm dangling uselessly…

“Peeta!” Katniss screamed.

“No, don’t!” Haymitch yelled.

He couldn’t see what was happening behind him, he could only guess that she had tried to shoot the dog again and that Haymitch had knocked her off… He could only run. He could only run, feeling the foul breath of the dog on his heels urging him to go faster than he had ever run before…

The thing about inner monsters though…

You could never really escape them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooopsie seems like it's the second cliffhanger of the week XD Well... What did Peeta do now? What did you think?


	6. Chapter 6

Haymitch didn’t let go of Katniss until the boy and the huge dog chasing them were out of sight and, then again, he only set her free because she elbowed him in his badly scratched chest.

“Stand down!” he ordered her when it was obvious she intended to pursue them. “You hurt that dog, you hurt _Peeta_.”

Katniss was so furious she was almost seething at the mouth. It was possible she might have been worried too. It was hard to tell. Her eyes were still swollen from sleep, her shirt was flapping in the wind and her hair was loose around her face… She looked positively murderous.

“I’m going after them.” she hissed. “He’s hurt. If this _thing _catches up…”

He hated it when the kid made sense.

“Get some pants on first.” he retorted, turning toward Effie’s house. What was left of it. His own house had seen a lot of renovations in its time, Slayer business wasn’t conductive to keeping one’s home intact.

The witch was still on all four amongst the pile of broken wood and shattered glass.

While Katniss ran back toward his house to get some clothes and, presumably, _weapons_, he picked up the sword the boy had dropped. The hilt was finely crafted and it was giving out some serious magic vibes that immediately made him wrinkle his nose.

“Be careful with that.” Effie warned in a soft voice when he made his way to her. “It is Hypnos’ sword.”

Haymitch immediately placed the blade down on her front porch, careful not to touch the blade. According to the lore, the sword had been bathed in the river Lethe and a simple scratch was enough to make you forget _everything_ about your life. It might have sounded taunting if it hadn’t also left you as vulnerable as an infant with no memory of how to walk, talk or fend for yourself.

“Thought it was a legend.” he commented.

“You will find I own a lot of legends.” she retorted, pushing herself upright. “Don’t! You’re barefoot!”

“So are you.” he grumbled and kept on walking closer to the gaping hole in her living-room wall.

Prim had caught up with him – and _she _had had the presence of mind to put on slippers and a dressing gown before rushing out of her bedroom when they had heard the growls and the crashing sounds – and was carefully picking her path amongst the rubble.

“Effie, are you alright?” the girl worried.

“Perfectly fine.” the witch lied through her teeth. Her arm was badly bleeding, there were scratches all over her hands and shins and, he was ready to bet, shards of glass stuck under her skin too. “Haymitch, _don’t_.” He ignored her protest and picked her up, pretending hard the glass digging in his soles wasn’t bothering him one bit. “I do _not_ need…” she raged but let her sentence trail off, mostly because she didn’t seem to be able to keep her head up anymore. It lolled against his neck and her hand clenched on his shoulder. “You’re hurt…”

He didn’t need the reminder.

“I’m fine.” he grumbled.

_She _clearly wasn’t.

He carried her to a safer patch of grass on her front yard and sat her down. He couldn’t tell what was worse, the blood on her arms, legs and her nosebleed or how _pale_ she had become. It had been a little more than a week since she had ended up in a _magical coma_ and there she was using too much magic again…

“What happened?” he asked, his voice clipped.

Katniss came jogging out of the house at that point, wearing jeans that were so skinny he immediately knew they were part of the loads of clothes Effie kept showering the girls with. She hadn’t bothered changing out of the tee-shirt she slept in. The grey fabric was faded and the Lisa Simpson picture was all cracked and he figured she had probably bought it secondhand when money had been tight. She was _so_ not a Lisa Simpson girl and that show was so moronic in the first place that he decided that his first order of business once he would have figured out what the hell Peeta had done, had found the boy, saved his ass and killed him himself, would be to send Effie out with the girl on a shopping outing for better pajamas.

“Here.” his Slayer said before Effie could try and answer. She tossed clothes and a pair of boots at his feet. Haymitch started getting dressed, trying not to wince too much when it pulled on the wound on his chest – or to be too embarrassed by the fact he had been wandering in the street wearing only underwear.

“I am unsure.” Effie shook her head. “It must be a spell but…”

“I found something!” Prim shouted from the inside of the house. She came back out waving Effie’s pink cased IPad. The tablet had a huge cobweb like crack in the middle of the screen but it was still working. “Look! It’s something about releasing your inner monster?”

“So he did magic. _Fucking_ great.” he spat. He had been hoping the whole thing had been an accident, a case of touching the wrong thing… In a witch’s house, it could happen. Hell… In _Effie’s house_, anything could happen. He hadn’t seen the whole extent of her enchanted weapons collection but he knew she owned a lot of dangerous stuff. The Hypnos’ sword wasn’t the worst by far. “What did I say about using _fucking_ magic? Does no one _ever_ listen to me?”

“_I _do.” Prim protested. “_Never ever_ under _any_ circumstances and _even more never_ without you or Effie.”

He took a deep calming breath and laid a hand on the youngest girl’s shoulder. “That’s why you’re my favorite.”

“So, what do we do?” Katniss pressed, shuffling her weight from one foot to the other, clearly eager to run after the boy. So was he. “You can fix it, right?”

The last part had been aimed at Effie who had been studying the spell detailed on her tablet. Later, he decided, they would have words about password protecting dangerous stuff. The fact that _he _was the one who had to be giving that lecture was _a joke_.

Or maybe the joke was that two single adults had to childproof their houses because they were suddenly in charge of _teenagers_…

“I need to research this.” She winced. “The best course of action right now would be for you to find Peeta and protect him. But do _not _hurt the dog. Anything you do to him, you are actually doing to Peeta.”

Katniss stared at her with a blank gaze. “How am I supposed to stop the huge fangy dog from eating him if I can’t hurt him?”

“Use your imagination.” Haymitch deadpanned. “Prim, go back to bed. Effie, you’re on research. Katniss, make sure you’ve got your phone and get the bike’s keys, we’re going after them.”

The girl shook her head. “Take the bike and circle around in case that beast is causing trouble in town. I’ll track him more quickly on foot. I know Peeta, he probably went to the woods so he wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

And she would be in her element in the woods.

Assuming, Gloss and the other Careers weren’t waiting for her there.

“I should come.” Effie argued. “I was taken by surprise but if I tap into earth magic I should be able to maintain the freezing spell a little longer. Perhaps…”

“No more magic for you.” Haymitch cut her off. “If there’s a spell to do, I’ll take care of it myself. The boy managed it, can’t be _that_ difficult.”

She sat up straighter and glared at him. It would have been more impressive if she hadn’t been wearing only a light orange top and shorts stained with blood and if it hadn’t been so _fucking_ obvious she couldn’t stand on her own two feet by herself. She was the only one still sitting.

“I am _fine_.” she snapped. “I know my limits.”

“_Do_ you?” he sneered. “Cause from where I stand, sweetheart, it looks like you’ve almost killed yourself. _Again_.”

She glared harder, her eyes narrowed, her lips pursed, her head slightly tilted… “I do not need you overprotecting me.”

He couldn’t take it. The blood, the sickly pallor of her skin… She looked half dead. She looked like one of his ghosts. She…

“I _ain’t_ being overprotective.” he growled, angry for all the wrong reasons. “Couldn’t care less if you accidentally offed yourself with one too many _abracadabras. _Thing is though, we’ve got a dark ritual around the corner and I can’t afford to be down one witch for that Reaping. _Fuck_ knows you won’t be much use in a fight without your magic…”

Hurt flashed across her face and then it was gone under a polished expression of polite disinterest.

Someone else would have told him to go _fuck_ himself and he would have been the first to admit he would have deserved it but it was Effie and Effie was too much of a _fucking_ lady for that. She simply jutted her chin in the air and slowly got back to her feet.

He regretted snapping at her the moment he did it and he tried to reach for her, to _help_ but she shrugged him off.

“Princess…” he sighed, more softly.

“We’re wasting time.” Katniss growled. “I’m going.”

“Only hurt him if you _cannot_ avoid it.” Effie reminded her. “I will call as soon as I know how to cancel that spell.”

Katniss acknowledged that with a nod, shouldered her bow and shot down the street in the direction Peeta had taken earlier.

“We should clean your wounds…” Prim told Effie, a little shyly in the deafening silence following her sister’s departure. “I’ll get the first aid kit.”

“I would offer to heal the scratches on your chest but I wouldn’t want to deprive you of a witch for your next important fight.” Effie hissed at him, once the girl was gone. “I surmise you will live.”

He grabbed her arm and tugged her back before she could storm to his own fucking house like she owned the place.

“_You_ won’t if you keep on like that.” he muttered. “Be _fucking_ more careful. You might have more power than you think, doesn’t mean you’re in control yet. You know better than me that it takes time and training. You’re being _fucking_ reckless and I _can’t _have that.” He paused, his jaw locked, he almost didn’t add the rest. “Don’t want to _bury _you.”

He left her behind with those parting words, jogging home to snatch a jacket, the keys and a helmet from the hallway table. The bike shot down the street at its usual speed… He was at the end of the lane when he felt the tingling feeling of her magic ripple on him.

First, the torn flesh of his chest mended.

Then, he felt the words she had just whispered far behind him like a fading kiss on his lips.

_May the odds be ever in your favor_.

A part of him cursed her twice over for doing _more _magic when he had _just _told her to cool it. Another part was just grateful enough to admit he might need the good luck spell.

°O°O°O°O°

Peeta was out of breath before he even reached the Village’s gates.

He could feel the dog rushing in his wake, knew that if the beast had really wanted to, it could have ended him with a single bite…

But it hadn’t yet.

Sometimes fangs grazed the back of his shins, urging him to go faster.

Sometimes there was a menacing snarl.

Did it herd him to the trees that stretched on either side of the slope leading up to the Village or was it a conscious choice ? Was there _even _a choice? He couldn’t lead the beast into town. He could only lure it far away from people and hope that nobody else would get hurt.

_Haymitch and Effie _were both hurt.

After everything they had done for him, _he _had caused them to get hurt.

He stumbled on a root that shot out of the ground, rolled down a ditch, sucked in a painful breath of air when his shoulder and his side throbbed in protest… He was losing a lot of blood and he felt light-headed.

Still, he climbed up the other side of the ditch, not daring to glance behind him at the dog that, for some reason, waited for him to be upright again to cross the ditch with a huge graceful leap…

Peeta was running again, hopping every three strides because of the stitch in his side. Or maybe it was the bleeding line the knife had left on the dog’s flank.

The beast snarled and lounged and toyed with him in a cruel game that seemed to last hours…

He wasn’t even conscious that he was deep in the woods until he realized he was completely lost.

For all he knew, the dog might even be trying to chase him all the way to the Hellmouth…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know who's having the worst night: Haymitch or Peeta? XD 
> 
> Next time, Katniss will be on the hunt. Now do you think she will catch up fast enough?


	7. Chapter 7

It had been a long time since Katniss had used her tracking abilities to hunt something that wasn’t a monster or another.

She told herself that, once she would have Peeta back and the Careers were all dust in the wind, she would grant herself a day to simply _hunt_ in the woods. No monsters, no vampires… Just her, her bow and traditional game. No blood, no sweat, no pain.

She zipped her father’s leather jacket up to her chin, regretting not having taken the time to slip on a sweater or something warmer than the old second hand tee-shirt she usually slept in. She hadn’t felt the bite of the cold when they had been battling the huge dog outside in the street but she felt it now as she ducked under low branches and did her best to speed up without losing the trail.

It _would _have been difficult to lose though.

Even without the obvious damages the giant paws of the monster had inflicted to the forest ground, there were smears and fresh drops of blood everywhere.

At any moment she was expecting to come upon the scene of a slaughter or, at the very least, to find Peeta trying to fend off against the beast, but deeper and deeper into the woods the trail went. Over a ditch, across a clearing, right up to where the old mines used to be before they were swallowed by wilderness again…

The Seam was _surrounded _by woods.

When she was little, before her father died and she gave up fairy tales, she believed with all her heart the woods were alive.

She wasn’t sure Peeta knew them as well as _she _did and, for a moment, she toyed with the idea of calling Gale because if there was another person out there who could move around the woods with their eyes closed… She dismissed the notion with the same uneasiness she had felt every time she had let herself think about Gale. She couldn’t get over the fact he had been planning to somehow steal her powers. She couldn’t get over the fact that every time he offered something she thought she wanted, be it a kiss or a love declaration, it was following a question about her abilities.

_Peeta_ never questioned her abilities.

Peeta…

She jumped across another ditch, musing about what she would _do_ to Peeta once she found him. Hit him, probably. _Strangle_ him, maybe. What an idiot… _Magic_, really… Ever since they had met Effie, he had been all wild eyes about it like it was something _so_ great, like it was just like those _Harry Potter_ movies he was so crazy about…

She still didn’t see the appeal.

She trusted her bow a hundred percent. She didn’t trust the strange powers that seemed to fail Effie one time out of three or leave her in a coma.

The moment her boot touched the dry earth on the other side of the ditch she realized her mistake and dropped down, rolling to the right.

The vampire’s arms closed on air… She remained crouched, swept at his ankles with her leg and stabbed him with her stake. The man turned to dust without even a word.

She stayed coiled in a crouch for a moment, waiting for her heart rate to calm down, cursing herself for being distracted. She should have felt the tingles at the back of her nape and recognized them for what they were. She should remain focused.

When it was clear there would be no more vampires, she stood up and looked for the trail again, thinking less about what she would do to Peeta and more about the upcoming fight. On the upside, she was less likely to accidentally get herself killed, on the downside, it meant she had no choice but to think about what the dog might have been doing to her friend.

She heard the scream after ten more minutes of walking.

It echoed as clear as if Peeta had been next to her but she knew it was an illusion, that sounds carried at night.

Still, she _ran_.

She ran like the devil was on her heels, the trail so obvious she didn’t even bother really _looking_.

Her father had taught her to _hunt_.

Haymitch had taught her to _kill_.

She came at the beast from the flank in a jump, her right leg stretched straight out in front of her, the left folded under her body… She liked that move. It felt like flying. At least until the boot connected with the dog’s side and she felt the aftershock from ankle to knee to hip…

That _thing_ was made of muscles and bones and…

She barely heard Peeta’s grunt of pain, barely remembered that she _couldn’t _actually _hurt _the dog; she fell on the forest’s ground and rolled on herself to get back up before the beast could get her. Her grey eyes assessed the situation in one sweep and she decided she didn’t like their odds.

Peeta had crumpled against a tree, clutching his side – where she had hit the dog – and panting hard. He was sweaty, bloody and looked just panicked enough to be more of a hindrance than a help. 

The beast was between them, a huge terrifying shadow in the darkness, with fangs and claws that reflected the moonlight. It was snarling at her, so obviously ready to leap and tear her throat out…

She wanted to reach for the bow on her back but thought better of it and pulled out the small knife hidden in her boot.

“Peeta, you’re alright?” she asked, not taking her eyes away from the dog.

“You shouldn’t have come after me.” he whispered. “You shouldn’t…”

She chanced a glance.

Was he feverish? He didn’t look like he was in his right mind.

“Can you try to get around it and come to me?” she asked even though she already knew the answer to that.

As if it had perfectly understood her intentions, the dog barked and moved a little to the side so it was completely blocking the path to each other.

Katniss scowled.

“I’m getting him back one way or another.” she warned.

What she needed was to buy Effie time to figure out how to vanish that thing. She needed time and Peeta safe and that meant the dog had to go down somehow.

She couldn’t kill him.

It didn’t mean she couldn’t…

The dog’s growl dropped another octave, as if he knew perfectly well what she was thinking and didn’t like it one bit.

“He’s mine.” she growled right back. “And I’m getting him back. So _back off_, whatever you are.”

She flexed her fingers on the hilt of her knife. It was a good knife. None of the engraved _shit _Effie kept, it was sturdy with a weathered leather grip made slightly rough by years of sweaty palms handling it. Haymitch had grumbled something about it having belonged to another of his Slayer when he had given it to her. She wasn’t sure which one but whoever it was had clearly treasured the blade and Katniss had promised herself she would take good care of it. It _was_ a good knife. 

“Katniss, don’t…” Peeta begged. “I don’t want to… Just… Run away… I don’t want to hurt you… I don’t want…”

More nonsense.

Unfortunately, the dog took that as its cue to _attack_.

She dove under him when he leaped, finding herself next to Peeta. Up close, he didn’t look any better than from afar, maybe even worse. She didn’t let herself watch him too closely, she whirled around, ready for the next attack…

The dog had turned around and was snarling again but it didn’t try to bite or flung itself at her throat.

And it finally dawned on her that its behavior was _weird_.

She didn’t understand magic, not at all, but she understood _animals_. And whatever that dog was, it wasn’t behaving like it should. It looked rabid. It had looked rabid from the first time she had caught sight of it through her bedroom’s window – and maybe it had been the fact that Effie was standing on the edge of a gaping hole in her house with the beast clearly trying to get past her and back inside again, _maybe _she hadn’t seen or looked further than the fact that the witch was in danger but…

It had been growling and using its claws in that street…

_Except it was three times the size of any of them and if it had wanted them dead chances were they _would_ be_…

How had Peeta gone that far into the woods for that matter?

She knew he was strong and she knew he was capable but that dog looked like it could beat up a jaguar in a race…

She knew animals.

This _wasn’t _an animal.

“What do you want?” she asked.

She made the mistake of looking at it in the eyes and, for a second, her breath caught in her throat.

His eyes were blue. Not just _any _blue. The same shade as Peeta’s. Worse, she knew, she knew _deep deep down_, that those were human eyes. _Peeta’s eyes_.

And the fur…

She couldn’t say for sure in the woods’ darkness but she thought the fur was the exact color of Peeta’s hair and…

“Peeta, what the _fuck_ did you do?” she whispered, not really expecting an answer.

The dog growled and Katniss tentatively lowered her knife a little, letting herself relax from her fighting stance, ready to react at the smallest sign of aggression. When it _still _didn’t attack, she slowly reached down for Peeta’s shoulder.

“Don’t…” he said. “I don’t… Stay away from me… I’m a monster… I’m…”

“Can you shut up for five minutes while I save your life?” she grumbled.

“I want to keep you safe…” Peeta muttered, his head rolling, his cheek falling on the back of her hand. He sounded completely out of it. “I want… You’ve got to get away from me… You’ve got…”

The dog moved so fast Katniss barely had time to react. She kept her hold on her knife, braced herself for the fall that still sucked the air out of her lungs and ended up with what felt like a _truck _pinning her to the ground. There was a root digging in her back and that would leave a bruise but, more concerning, there was also a huge powerful jaw full of fangs on either side of her throat.

The teeth grazed her skin but didn’t rip it apart.

Time froze.

Peeta was whimpering and moaning in pain against his tree, clearly trying to reach her but failing…

Katniss didn’t understand why the beast wasn’t finishing her.

Or, rather, she was starting to understand a little too well.

“You won’t hurt me.” she forced herself to say, her voice far more certain than she felt. She couldn’t betray any fear. The beast would sense it. “You would never hurt anyone.”

Despite all the alarms in her head telling her she was being reckless and stupid and that she would be the first Slayer to die so stupidly, she placed her empty hand on the dog’s front paw. Its fur was soft but thick and the muscles rippled under her hand.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the big jaw let go of her throat and she found herself looking into those eyes that didn’t belong on that dog’s head.

“You won’t hurt me.” she said again and, this time, it sounded as much a prayer as a statement.

A huge rough tongue licked the side of her face, leaving an indecent amount of slobber trickling down her cheek, her neck and the lapel of her jacket…

Then the beast moved back and sat down like any huge deadly dog with human eyes would do. Its tail was even wagging a little.

“Good boy.” she said after a moment of hesitation.

It looked pleased.

At least until she tried to take another step toward Peeta and the boy completely freaked out. “No, no, no, no… You’ll get hurt… You’ll get hurt…”

The dog’s fur bristled and the growling was menacing…

She wisely stopped where she stood. “Peeta, it’s alright.”

“No.” He shook his head. “No, it’s not…”

“Peeta, stop being an idiot.” she snapped. “I’m going to come to you now and you’re going _to stop _thinking I’ll get hurt or _I will _get hurt.”

She wasn’t entirely sure how the whole thing was working, but she was pretty sure it was all connected to his fear. If she was right…

“No…” Peeta continued, shaking his head.

The dog stood up again and Katniss winced.

She didn’t want to hurt it any more than she wanted to hurt Peeta but she also couldn’t risk him losing control and unconsciously sending the beast at her.

“I’m sorry.” she said to the dog as much as to the boy.

She had always been quick but her speed had enhanced since she had become the Slayer. She ran straight at the dog, skidded on her side under its belly, raised the knife… The dog howled when she dug the blade deep in the soft muscles of his inner thigh, sectioning sinew and who knew what else… That should prevent him from following them for a little while.

She didn’t stop to think.

She rushed to Peeta while the beast collapsed in a chorus of betrayed whines and growls, tossed him over her shoulder and ran as fast as she could.

She was relatively certain the dog would follow once it managed to pick itself up and wouldn’t go after any innocent people. She had to trust Haymitch could handle it if she was wrong and it turned tail and aimed for the town.

She headed straight for an old abandoned cave she had found once. It was next to a stream that she had to waddle knee deep in the water to cross. She was wet, angry at Peeta as much as at herself and exhausted when she finally dropped her friend in the relative shelter of the cave.

Peeta wasn’t awake.

She was still concerned he had some kind of fever and then the amount of blood staining his pant leg caught her eyes and her heart stopped beating in her chest.

She had known the wound would transfer to him.

She hadn’t known it would be _this_ bad.

It looked as if she had almost sawed his leg off.

°O°O°O°O°

Peeta and the dog _weren’t _anywhere near The Seam, that much became clear after Haymitch’s second ride through town.

He had circled the bakery for a while and then the kid’s house, half hoping his mother or his father would come out and complain about the noise because he was itching for a fight, but nothing happened. It was The Seam. People knew better than investigating strange noises in the dead of night.

He wouldn’t find the boy in town.

With a muttered curse, he turned the bike around telling himself he would head back to the Village and follow the tracks from there. He wasn’t as good a hunter as Katniss was but he could keep up with a trail.

The town center was mostly asleep except for the _Cornucopia_. The Seam’s only nightclub was always a beacon in the night, it had been for as long as Haymitch could remember. He had spent so many nights in the club with Mabel either stalking vamps or dancing until their legs gave in… _Youth_. How foolish it was.

The parking lot was still full even though it was close to three a.m. and he spotted quite a few of his own students sharing cigarettes outside the club. It made him grate his teeth, ready to bet there were vamps inside already salivating at the prospect of an easy meal.

Another curse and he entered the parking lot, kicking off the bike and taking off the helmet to better scowl at the kids laughing outside. They were shocked to see him there because _obviously _old people shouldn’t have been showing up at nightclubs in their minds. He remembered thinking that way too once.

He wasn’t the kind of teacher who harassed students about their behavior, what they choose to put in their bodies, be it alcohol or tobacco, or how responsible they weren’t being. Because of that he was deemed _cool _and he was quite popular.

The teenagers might have been surprised to see him but they weren’t actually afraid of repercussions for being out so late on a school night. Not until he started shouting at them and threatening to call their parents.

He waited until they were back in their cars and well on their way home to shook his head and get inside the club itself. He was wasting time and it killed him not to know if Katniss and Peeta were alright but he also could not, in good conscience, _not _check the club to make sure it was vampire free before heading back.

He hadn’t been back in _the Cornucopia_ since his return to the Seam but nothing had changed much inside. It had been redecorated several times since his own teenage years but it still looked slightly shabby. Less than Ripper’s bar obviously but…

He walked around the dance floor, gave a wide berth to the bar, too tempted by the prospect of a drink to steady his nerves, and headed straight for the metallic stairs at the back that would take him up to the first floor. Mostly, it was a clutter of small round tables occupied by couples on dates up there. More intimate. He scanned the place but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

It wasn’t the first time he envied a Slayer’s abilities to _sense_ vampires.

There were other things that gave them away and he had become an expert at figuring them out: old-fashioned clothes or haircuts were a dead giveaway – or at least it had been before _vintage _came back into fashion – the way they moved, the fact that they didn’t need to breathe…

It was too dark and he couldn’t spot anything alarming.

The only creepy thing on that floor was him staring at young couples.

With a sigh, he turned his back on them and walked to the metallic railing that gave on the ground floor. He surveyed the dance floor, let his eyes trail on the customers around the bar, spared a glare for the awful band playing on stage, gave a cursory look at the tables on the other side of the dance floor…

If the woman hadn’t moved at that moment, he would have missed her.

She moved with a feral grace that was far too characteristic to be confused with anything else than a predator’s beauty. Her skin was a tanned brown, she had long straight black hair that fell almost to her waist, she had pulled it up in a high ponytail that somehow shimmered under the strobe lights… He only understood why when he spotted the golden brooches. Old-fashioned for sure. More than old-fashion. _Antiqued_.

Like him, she was surveying the rest of the club but when he had been in a hurry, she was taking her time. _Assessing_.

Haymitch made his way down and to her, quick but not too fast. He didn’t want to look too eager. He didn’t want to give her time to decide she wanted one of the young boys shaking around the dance floor either.

“Can I buy you a drink?” he asked, sneaking up behind her.

She didn’t tense or startle but he knew she would have heard his approach. Up close, she was even more stunning. Long dark eyelashes, dark eyes, crimson painted lips… The leather pants were well-worn and the white linen blouse she had on looked like they came straight out from Ancient Egypt but she made it work. He was pretty sure the large solid gold plate around her neck wasn’t a replica either.

She was dangerously beautiful. He had always liked dangerous beautiful women. Chaff said he was beyond help on that front.

Her eyes roamed over him, did a double take…

It had been easier to play bait for vampires when he had been younger. They tended to go for young blood full of hormones.

She must have seen something in him though because she smiled.

“You can take me out of this dump.” she granted. _Granted_. Not requested, not demanded but _granted_ as if she was making a favor.

There was a small catch to the way she pronounced the words and he decided English wasn’t her first language but she had been speaking it long enough that it was close.

For the first time, he reconsidered the wisdom of approaching her. He had been killing vamps since he was a kid and that had made him too cocky sometimes, too certain he could handle himself. He wasn’t so sure now that he was right next to her.

She reminded him of Cashmere.

How old was she?

“You’ve got a name, beautiful?” he asked, leading her toward the back exit with a hand at the small of her back.

He sensed coiled muscles under his palm and made a mental inventory of the weapons he had on him. It was over quickly. He had left the house in a hurry. He had a stake wedged at his belt behind his back, right next to his hunting knife. He was pretty sure there was a small plastic bottle of holy water in his jacket pocket because he had never bothered taking it out in years… That was about it.

“Enobaria.” she finally answered once they had crossed the back door’s threshold and they were standing in the deserted alley behind the club. “But to you I will be _mistress_.”

When she turned back toward him, her beautiful face had melted into ridges, golden eyes and fangs.

On the bright side, if he got out of this alive, he would be able to add a physical description to the Watchers journals…

On the down side, he didn’t see _how _he would get out of this alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that's what I call being in trouuuuble...


	8. Chapter 8

8.

Enobaria lunged and Haymitch dove left without even thinking, rolling down on the floor and back up, his stake in his fist. He adjusted his fighting stance, knowing that if she _was _one of the legendary Careers – and she _was, _why would she have lied about her name? – he had zero chances. He could decimate fledglings, he could handle his own against average vampires but vampires sired by a Master who had been alive for centuries? Cashmere had _wiped the floor _with him and if it hadn’t been for his Slayer…

“I’ve been looking for you.” he said when she didn’t immediately attack again. She was watching him, her head tilted to the side, intrigued rather than scared. It was hard to say because of the demon face she was rumored to never take off – _clearly_ an overestimation, she _did_ take it off to hunt – but he thought she looked amused.

“Have you?” she retorted in that weird accent of her. “Do you have a death wish?” She tilted her head a little more. “You are older than what I usually go for but there _is _something about you… You are in luck, I am in need of an army. I might turn you, after all…”

He took an unconscious step back, which only amused her further. “Thanks but no thanks. Name’s Haymitch. Rings any bell?”

All the amusement vanished from her demon face. She looked a lot more alert suddenly, a lot more hungry too.

“The Slayer’s bastard turned Watchdog. I understand what our master saw in you.” she hummed. “You have fire. I will _so_ love extinguishing it.”

Her tongue poked at one of her fangs and it was both gross and obscene and still Haymitch found himself twitching in his pants.

_Thrall_, a voice warned at the back of his head and he made sure not to meet her eyes again. He could throw off a mild thrall. He had trained himself to. It didn’t mean it was a nice experience. And there were no guaranties _her _thrall was _mild_. Vampires who could hypnotise people were rare but more dangerous than most.

“Why are you here?” he asked, tightening his hold on the stake. “Why now? Why after all this time?”

“It’s been foretold.” She shrugged as if it was of little consequence. “I’d say ask Gloss but you won’t live long enough to meet him. Shall we dance now?”

She was swaying a little from side to side and Haymitch clenched his jaw, focusing all his thoughts on Effie, the way her body felt under his hands, the way his stomach somersaulted when she kissed him soft and slow… He was _so not _going to fall prey to a thrall. That would be _embarrassing_.

When she pounced, he made a feint to the left and then threw himself to the right, barely managing to land a punch in her plexus that didn’t even slow her down. It felt like slamming his fist into a wall.

He felt the familiar ripples of Effie’s magic over his skin as her claws glided off his leather sleeves and he slipped free of her grip.

He ran.

He ran without glancing back, slowing down to think or even considering what it would mean for the people left inside the club.

He ran all the way around the nightclub, climbing and jumping over fences with the agility of someone twice younger, aware she was hot on his heels and mysteriously kept tripping on garbage bags… He jumped on his bike and kicked it on with shaky limbs and let the engine roar his way into the night, knowing she would still pursue him and that regardless of whether she had a car or not, she could probably catch up if she applied herself to it.

She was old and powerful and dangerous…

_Fuck_ but without that luck spell Effie had casted…

He only breathed more easily once the bike shot past the Village’s gates. With the cloaking spell in place and if his witch was right, nothing with evil intentions would be able to see the place never mind enter it. He slowed the bike down a little and finally kicked it off in front of his house, his heart hammering hard in his chest, feeling shaky like he had only ever been when he had found himself face to face with Snow himself.

Forcing himself to take deep calming breaths before his heart exploded, he slowly tossed his leg over the bike and dragged his body to his front door. Nobody had bothered locking it, he noticed. A glance in the living-room told him Prim had fallen asleep on the couch and someone, presumably Effie, had tucked her in under a throwaway plaid. He had thought he would find her in the library but it was empty so he kept going all the way to the kitchen.

She must have heard the bike because she looked up immediately.

She had made herself at home and his mind was divided about that. One part of him liked that she was now wearing one of his flannel shirts over her pajamas and that she seemed to be in the process of swallowing up everything sugary in his cupboards while scrolling on her broken IPad. Another part was annoyed at the intrusion, at the assumed notion that she was welcome to behave as if she lived there…

“What happened to you?” she immediately asked, bolting to her feet and rounding the kitchen table so fast he thought she must have teleported.

She looked frightened and when she reached for his cheek, he simply leaned into her palm, too tired to deal with his complex feelings. He must have looked a fright, he figured. He had lost his helmet at some point, which he only realized belatedly was too bad given the reckless speed at which he had been driving. Most of all though, he knew he was white as a sheet and looked terrified.

“Never let me stop you from using that good luck spell ever again.” he mumbled. “In fact, I insist on it. Use it all the time. _Fuck_.” He escaped her hand and walked around her to the liquor cupboard. He didn’t need to look to know she had a disapproving expression on her face but he still poured himself a drink. “Enobaria’s in town.”

She gasped. “_What_?”

“Yeah.” He left it at that. Enough said. He gulped down half his glass of whiskey and finally turned around. “What’s with the sugar craving?”

The table was a mess of ripped open cookies packages, half eaten pop tarts and there was a sticky glass with a half empty bottle of coke next to it. She didn’t usually drink soda and if she _did _drink it it was the fuzzy orange kind. She didn’t like coke.

And the fact that he knew that about her…

_Are we still casual?,_ she had asked less than forty-eight hours earlier.

He wished he had a better answer now than _I fucking hope so. _

It didn’t look casual from where he was standing. Not when he was so tempted to just wrap his arms around her and forget everything else. Not when he had offered her a job only a couple of hours earlier without even checking with Chaff even though opening an agency had sort of been a more or less concrete project of theirs for a while now. Not when he hadn’t mentioned her to his best friend, not even once, when he would have usually laughed about screwing a Council member. Not when they had somehow decided to raise kids together without even discussing it properly beforehand. Not when his heart clenched every time she tossed one of those bitchy looks at him.

Not when he could feel himself slipping toward a pool of unwelcomed feelings inside.

Not when he was so terrified of _feeling_ but unable to stop, unable to call it quit and pull the plug.

“I thought I might need the boost of energy.” she dismissed. “I will clean up.”

“Obviously.” he snorted because he couldn’t picture her leaving that kind of mess behind her, never mind in someone else’s house. He ran his hand over his face. “Did you find how to reverse the spell?”

“Yes.” She sighed. “Do you think Katniss has any chance against her?”

He couldn’t remember the last time he had been able to have two simultaneous conversations with someone without getting confused. Chaff maybe.

You had to know a person really well to get to that level of…

“No.” he answered honestly, choosing to ignore the relationship problem for now. The thought that there were _two other _vampires as old and powerful didn’t bode well. “Walk me through it, I’m gonna be doing the magic tonight. Sugar boost or not.”

She reeled back from that first piece of information with barely a blink. “There is nothing we can do. It has to be Peeta.”

“Then write me the spell and I’m gonna get it to him.” he ordered, finishing his glass in one go.

She shook her head and leaned against the table, folding her arms in front of her chest. “It is not that easy, Haymitch.”

Of course.

When was it ever?

°O°O°O°O°

Katniss hated blood.

She truly, _really_, hated blood.

Human blood, that was. She didn’t have any problem with getting fish or animals ready for supper. But human blood…

Her hands were covered with it as she struggled to secure a tourniquet around Peeta’s thigh. The sight of his mangled leg was enough to make her stomach churn again and again. There was a chorus of _what have I done _echoing around her spinning head, her ears were ringing and she was pretty sure if she opened her mouth she would puke. The leg looked half cut off.

She struggled to get her phone out of her pocket as soon as she had finished making sure he wouldn’t bleed to death. She needed Effie. Badly. It was possible she needed an ambulance even. Would the witch be able to heal _that_? She had looked ready to collapse earlier and…

No signal.

She bit down on her bottom lip, wiped her sweaty brow with her forearm and considered her options. She could leave Peeta and try to find some place with coverage so she could call for help. She was reasonably sure the dog wouldn’t hurt him – she wasn’t so sure it wouldn’t come after her now but that was a risk she was willing to take. The problem was the woods were thrumming with dark creatures and vampires and the scent of Peeta’s blood…

If she left him to get help only to come back and find his corpse…

“Katniss…”

Her gaze darted back to his face and she dropped the phone, crawling closer to his side. “Peeta. Peeta, how do you feel?”

_Fuck_, it was such a stupid question…

His blue eyes were less blank than before but he wasn’t entirely lucid either. “You’ve got to go… Dangerous…”

She grabbed his hand and rubbed it between hers because it felt cold.

“You’re not dangerous.” she snapped firmly. “Stop saying that. Stop _thinking _that.”

He searched her face for a moment but she wasn’t certain he was even seeing her.

“Almost killed my mom…” he mumbled. “Earlier… I…”

“She probably deserved it.” she spat. And she wasn’t certain she wasn’t going to finish that woman off anyway. She was burning to do it. To put an end to anything that threatened _her family_.

“I’m dangerous…” he repeated and his voice broke. “I’m…”

“You’re _not_.” she cut him off. “Peeta, you’re the _best _person I know. Save for Prim.”

It was a high compliment coming from her and it left him a little stunned. He stared at her hard, his fingers twitching between her hands…

“I just… I wanted to be safe…” he explained, his face crunching in pain. “I didn’t want… Effie got hurt…”

“Effie’s gonna be fine.” she dismissed.

“But it proves it, don’t you see?” he muttered. “The dog’s my inner monster… It…”

“It’s terrified of hurting people.” she finished for him firmly, rubbing his hand harder. That was her theory at least. “It attacked me because I tried to get close to you and because you think you’re somehow going to hurt me. Because you’re _that _stupid.” She scowled at him. “It attacked Effie because she tried to come between the two of you. It attacked us for the same reason. It’s not trying to _hurt us_, Peeta, it’s trying to keep everyone _away from you_. We’d all be dead otherwise.”

“No…” Peeta shook his head. “It was supposed to…”

“I don’t care what it was supposed to do.” she interrupted. “If _that_’s your inner monster then I’m safer with you than with anyone else. It could have _ripped my throat off_, Peeta, _it licked my cheek_ instead. That’s how dangerous you are to me.”

He watched her, confused and scared and in pain.

She wasn’t sure how much of the conversation he was truly following.

With a sigh, she leaned closer until their foreheads were pressed together. His breath stuck in his throat and then he let out a long one. It was warm against her lips.

“Why can’t you see yourself like I see you?” she whispered. “You’re the best of us. Why don’t you _see_ that?”

“I’m…” he countered and then stopped and licked his lips.

“You’re a good person.” she argued. “You’re the boy who left bread in my locker when I couldn’t find food to feed my sister. You’re… _You’re the best person I know._” She closed her eyes and tried not to notice how clammy and warm his skin felt against her forehead. She was scared suddenly that the wounds were too serious, that she had only made it worse by attacking the dog’s leg, that… She was scared that… “You’re not going to die. I forbid it. All right?”

“All right.” he whispered but it sounded faint.

She drew back a little, framed his face in her hands… His eyelids were fluttering close…

She wasn’t sure what made her do it.

There was an ugly, terrible knot of dread in her ribcage, pushing on her lungs, keeping her from breathing normally… This ugly, terrible feeling that he was dying, that…

She crushed his mouth under hers.

As far as kisses went, it wasn’t good – not that she had much of a frame of reference – a simple press of lips against lips. No finesse. No skill. Nothing that…

It startled him into opening his eyes. He blinked hard, staring at her with such adoration that it made a lump appear in her throat. He looked at her as if she was the sun and the moon and stars and she could vaguely remember her father looking at her mother like that and her mother looking just as enamored and it was just so…

She leaned back in ever so slowly, hesitant, unsure…

The sound of displaced pebbles made her look up but not in time.

This was why she hated emotional entanglements. She had been too distracted. She hadn’t been paying attention.

There were three vampires standing in the opening of the cave and she barely had time to jump over Peeta to bodily shield him before they attacked. She didn’t have any opportunity to reach for her bow and she wouldn’t have had enough range to use it anyway. She felt for her stake but before she could take it out, she was engaged in a fight that shouldn’t have been as complicated or hopeless as it felt.

It wasn’t that they were particularly strong vampires, it was that her main objective was to keep them away from Peeta’s helpless body. She twisted and punched and kicked, rolled, jumped and crouched… All to herd the vampires away from him.

She took a particularly vicious hit to the chin that, she was sure, almost broke her jaw but instead of wallowing in the pain, she used the momentum to get her stake free from her belt. Fangs dug in the meat of her shoulder, tearing the leather of her father’s jacket…

“Oh, no you didn’t!” she snapped, enraged because this jacket was one of the very few things she had left of him.

She dispatched that particular vampire but the other tricked her and suddenly, before the cloud of dust had even settled, one was at her back keeping her trapped in a choke hold and the other one was getting dangerously close to her throat…

There was a rush of adrenaline as she elbowed the one behind her right before the other one could bite her… She was in hot water and she knew it though.

The snarling took her aback for a second because she hadn’t known vampires could make that sound.

And then the one that had just kicked her in the stomach was snatched away by a huge clawed paw. Katniss barely had time to register the surprise on his demonic face before the dog literally bit his head off. It seemed disgruntled to find itself with a mouth full of dust but it didn’t let that stop it. It jumped right next to Katniss, his back leg trailing after it, useless and bloody.

She didn’t need its help though. One foe, she could manage by herself.

The vampire didn’t even see the stake before it was deep in his chest and she let the piece of wood clatter to the ground once he was dust. She skidded to her knees next to Peeta, worried by how pale he looked. And that was without mentioning the small puddle of blood underneath him. 

“Peeta!”

He was fighting to keep his eyes open and they were staring at the huge dog that was half-heartedly snarling at her. When she tried to grab him, thinking she would just carry him up until she got a signal on her phone and _hope _he wouldn’t die in the process, the dog’s fur bristled and he growled a lot more menacingly.

“Oh, for…” she mumbled under her breath. She stood up, studied the dog and then took a leap of faith. Her guts were telling her Peeta would never harm her in any shape or form. She headed straight for the beast who watched her warily but without any blatant trace of hostility. She didn’t let herself hesitate when she tossed her arms around its huge thick neck. “I’m not afraid of you. I’ll never be afraid of you. You’ll never hurt me. You’re good and loyal and if this is your inner monster then we’re all very safe with you. You’re not second best for Gale and you belong with us. With _me_. And I’m not leaving you behind. _Ever_. So get that into your thick skull and let me save your ass.”

“Kat…” Peeta breathed behind her.

For a second, she thought it was more stupid warnings about how he would hurt her. But then the dog let out a content sigh and she almost stumbled because suddenly she wasn’t holding on to anything. The beast was gone. Simply _gone_.

She didn’t waste time trying to understand the why or the how. Magic was always overly complicated.

She grabbed Peeta, ignoring his pained whimpers, picked up the bloodied phone from the ground and she ran as fast as her legs would take her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliiiiiffhanger. 
> 
> Double one because I need to warm you there won't be an update next week-end. I won't be around much because my best friend is visiting and it's been ages since we've seen each other so I don't really want to stress about schedule and posting. So next chapter on the 27th. Sorry for the inconvenience. :/ 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know your thoughts!


	9. Chapter 9

“I don’t like it.” Haymitch grumbled for what must have been the hundredth time.

Effie pulled the designer jeans higher on her thighs, hopping a little to get them all the way up and wriggling this way and that to get comfortable in them. Not quite the sexiest look. She wished he had remained in the bedroom but that would have been considerate and Haymitch was not a particularly considerate person.

“So you said.” she deadpanned. “Repeatedly.”

When she had announced her intention to go back out with him to look for the children, he had not been happy. He had followed her all the way back to her house and right into her walk-in closet.

“Effie, you can’t be doing more magic.” he insisted.

“And I won’t unless it is _absolutely_ necessary.” she retorted. Her hands flew to the lapels of the flannel shirt she had borrowed from his dresser and then, instead of taking it off like had been her intention, she buttoned it all the way up. She had intended to swap it for something warmer but she liked the feeling of his shirt against her skin. I was comforting. “I told you. Peeta needs to _accept _what he perceives to be his inner monster. He might need me to talk him through it. I am coming with you. End of story.”

Haymitch was glaring.

She took a second to appreciate how much stormier it made his grey eyes look. She did not let herself appreciate the rest too much.

Because he was not a man who made the same mistakes twice, he had geared up before leaving his house and he was now a walking armada. There was a sword swung over his left shoulder, the hilt poking out next to his head, stakes were strapped to his thighs, his knife was wedged in his old combat boots… The leather jacket only made the whole package more appealing.

He looked just good enough to eat and if the circumstances had been different…

“I’ve known a lot of _fucking_ stubborn women and you’re _worse_ than them all.” he accused.

“Given who the women in question were, I will take that as a compliment.” she retorted, grabbing a jacket from the rack. She didn’t even check the color wouldn’t clash with the shirt. They were in a hurry. She was anxious to get to Peeta.

“It wasn’t.” he snapped. “Those girls were bad enough but if you were one of my Slayers…”

She crouched down to push on a white rectangular molding panel under her shoes collection. The hidden compartment shot out and she contemplated the assortment of common weapons she rarely used. She _did_ prefer her enchanted weapons. Against vampires though… Sometimes classic was the only way to go.

“First of...” she cut him off. She grabbed as many stakes as she could carry, a few bottles of holy water and a wooden cross before pushing the hidden drawer back in place. “I am _not _one of your Slayers and you are _not_ the boss of me. Secondly, I am not a _girl _who needs your guidance. And thirdly, I am supposed to be in charge now or have you already forgotten?”

Not that Coin’s word had a real impact down there but…

She was getting back to her feet when he suddenly grabbed her arm and hauled her up. Before she could blink she was pinned to the wall by his hips, one of his legs between hers, his forearm perpendicular to her throat. He could have crushed her pipe if he had applied pressure but she thought the choke hold was more a reflex than a real threat because she could barely feel his arm against her throat and he took it away almost immediately.

“As fun as this might be, we do not have time.” she purred. It was more irritated than amused though.

He was more irritated than amused too.

“You’re reckless.” he accused for the second time that night.

“I am _anything_ but.” she hissed. “You are being stupid. I got lightheaded earlier but I am fine now. I have been doing magic since before I could walk, Haymitch, trust me when I say I know what I _can_ and _cannot_ do.” She tilted her head to the side and shot him a challenging look. “Either I am a powerful witch or I am not, at some point you will have to choose. Which is it?”

She didn’t believe it herself. She still thought the idea was ludicrous and more frightening than it was worth. But…

He scowled, anger and helplessness fighting on his face. “You’re a pain in _my ass_.”

“Kinky.” she remarked calmly, batting her eyelashes.

She truly thought he was going to start shouting. He let out a deep breath and leaned his forehead against hers instead. “Just… Be careful.”

_Don’t want to bury you_.

The words had sent a chill down her spine earlier, mostly because he had truly meant them. He had buried all the women he had ever cared for save from Mags. She could understand where the apprehension was coming from, all the more so given how the Lachnoc demon had affected him…

“I can safely promise you I will do my utmost best to survive no matter the cost.” she whispered. “You do not need to concern yourself with me. You should focus solely on Katniss.”

“Yeah. I _should_, right?” he scoffed and finally moved away from her. She immediately missed the warmth of his body and she couldn’t help the shiver when he muttered the rest. “This was the worst idea ever. _Fucking_ temptation.”

She wasn’t sure he had meant to say that much aloud and she wasn’t sure what she ought to answer.

They needed to have a talk about their not-so-casual relationship, she figured. A _real_ one. But now was not the time. Now they needed to save the two thirds of their children.

Her phone started ringing before she could tell him they needed to get a move on.

“Katniss.” she said for his benefits after having checked the ID before immediately swiping to accept the call. “Did you find him?”

“_Need help.”_ the girl demanded, breathless. _“Peeta’s hurt bad. Meet me at the fountain.”_

Effie’s blood ran cold. “I am on my way.” She carelessly slid the phone in the back pocket of her jeans and met Haymitch’s anxious eyes. “Peeta is hurt. Will you insist I do _not_ do magic now?”

“It’s never been about you _not _doing magic.” he spat. “Don’t twist my words. I’m just worried…”

“Well, now you have reasons to.” she retorted, heading downstairs.

They started jogging down the stairs and they ran all the way to the lonely fountain that stood near the desolate entrance of the Village. They arrived first and she didn’t miss the way Haymitch scanned the dark night outside of the metal gates, his hand hovering on the stake strapped to his thigh…

“Even if she is out here, she cannot get in.” Effie reminded him, a little less aggravated. “She would not even be able to see us.”

His meeting with Enobaria had clearly shaken him.

“She has a thrall.” he said quietly. And he hadn’t told her _that _before. Vampires who could weave a thrall were rare but dangerous. “You can throw one off?”

She hesitated and then shook her head. “I never had causes to try.”

“I can. Snow had a thrall too.” he added after a loaded pause. “I don’t like any of this _shit_, sweetheart. I can _taste_ upcoming disaster.”

There was a crash in the overgrown bushes in a yard to their right that prevented her from answering. They both whirled in that direction at the exact same second, Haymitch pulling out his stakes and Effie slipping one of hers free with her left hand and lighting a fireball in her right.

Katniss’ face appeared, looking pale and ragged under the unflattering glow of the lamplights. She still looked better than the boy tossed across her shoulders. She ran a little hunched over and carefully put him down at their feet. Effie was already kneeling down to inspect the damages.

“The dog?” Haymitch asked, scanning the darkness behind the girl. He was still in fighting stance, ready to give them cover…

“Gone.” Katniss coughed, sweaty and out of breath. She let herself fall down to the ground and grabbed Effie’s wrist. “Save him.”

Effie’s throat was closing though as she assessed the state the boy was in. There was a bad gaping wound on his side, the shoulder was hurt and, worst of all, the leg. The leg looked almost torn off and it was a miracle he hadn’t already bled out.

She could heal small gashes. She could heal bruises. She could…

She looked up at Haymitch, helpless and terrified like she had rarely ever been. He read her like a book and dropped to his knees next to her, his stakes slipping out of his fingers. He reached for Peeta and then seemed to think better of it and placed his hand on her shoulder instead.

“We can call 911.” he said calmly but the calm in his voice sounded far too fake.

“Too late.” she answered. “They won’t get here in time. That leg…”

“It’s my fault.” Katniss cut in. “I had to… I had to get past the dog somehow and… I should have understood sooner but…” The girl shook her head and hugged herself, half-glaring at Effie with tears in her eyes. “_Heal him_. Use your magic.”

“I won’t have enough.” Effie whispered. “Even if I burn it all…” But did it matter? She took a steadying breath. “Alright. _Alright_, let’s try.”

“Use me.” Haymitch offered. “Don’t have much power, no real one, but… Take it. You can do that, yeah? Tap into it.”

What Haymitch had in terms of magical powers was equivalent to the flickering flame of a candle. It wasn’t enough by far.

She shook her head and pressed her left hand in the ground, digging her fingers in the dry earth. “I will use Earth magic. And if I don’t have enough there is always…”

“No.” Haymitch cut her off. “Not that. _Ever_. One taste is all it takes, Effie. No. Price’s too high.”

Katniss’ gaze was darting from one to the other but, in the end, she didn’t ask. She grabbed Peeta’s hand and held it trapped in hers. “Please, save him.” 

“There’s no price too high.” she countered for Haymitch’s benefit. “You should keep a knife ready though.”

Because if she had to do what she _truly _didn’t want to do… If she had to tap into the Hellmouth’s corruptive magic… There was no foretelling what she would become. She had seen a glimpse of it when the fear demon had clawed his way into her heart.

“Like hell.” he spat.

She laughed but it was a frightened little sound. Then she closed her eyes and focused before Peeta could slip away from them. She put her right hand on his forehead and she… _Pushed_.

She quickly reached the limit of what her powers could do. She tried to focus on the leg but the wound was extreme. She was pretty sure that, medically, the only thing to do at that point would have been to cut it off properly. It was mangled almost beyond repair.

He was too weak.

The spell he had cast earlier had cost him like a first spell always did, never mind one _that _ambitious. His body had taken the toll of that.

She reached deep within the Earth for the familiar tendrils of magic, ignoring the dark sticky ones of the Hellmouth for now, power flooded into her and she channeled it directly into the boy’s body. She couldn’t heal him yet but she could make him a little stronger, ease the fever… She felt the wound on his side closing. Not enough to entirely heal but it would be good enough for now. It stopped bleeding…

_She _was bleeding.

Her nose and her ears.

She felt it trickling down her upper lip and her neck.

She felt Haymitch’s arms come around her, supporting her…

She reached into him because she needed more power and he had offered. But it was barely a drop when she needed an ocean…

“_Shit_.” he groaned, his arms tightening like steel bars around her stomach.

She let him go.

Not enough.

Not enough.

But Peeta was less pale and his breathing had eased.

By her estimation they had gained some time. A few minutes, not much more but…

She poured more into him, aware that she was supplementing her magic with her own vital strength, but what else could she do but…

“Stop.” Haymitch suddenly ordered. “Effie, _stop_. Right now.”

She obeyed, almost relieved, and sagged into his arms, breathing hard.

“What are you doing?” Katniss asked. Her voice had a hinge of hysteria to it. “What are you doing? You can’t stop! He’s not okay yet! You can’t stop!”

“It’s killing her!” Haymitch snarled.

“And he’s dying!” the Slayer shot back.

Haymitch immediately softened but his arms remained strong around Effie. “He looks a little better. We’re gonna call for an ambulance and…”

“He’ll lose the leg.” Effie mumbled between long deep breaths. “I need to finish.”

“The only thing you’re gonna finish off is yourself.” Haymitch replied and then sighed and then… Then she felt his nose against her nape and she figured he had rested his forehead against the back of her head. “We need better options than you killing yourself or you turning into a Hellmouth black witch.”

She could taste iron on her tongue and it took a moment to realize she had bitten the inside of her cheeks.

“Options.” she repeated blankly, tuning out Katniss who was screaming at them to do _something_, anything.

_I’ve got a theory. But you ain’t gonna like it. I’ve been reading up on Lachnoc demons… They create illusions, exploit latent fears… But they can’t create the kind of power you’ve been showing, sweetheart. Losing control of your magic, the Hellmouth thing… Seems legit. But there’s no way the demon increased your power._

It had terrified her when he had said that.

And now…

Now…

“Alright.” she whispered. “Alright…”

She closed her eyes, tried to imagine a bubble around her mind like Caesar had taught her even though she still despised _trances_, and once she had successfully more or less isolated herself from the outside world, she took a good look deep down.

She had never let herself do that.

In her opinion, there were risks in looking at yourself a little too closely.

She found her power. In her head, it was a pulse of light right in her belly. It wasn’t _literally _there of course, but that was how she liked to think about it. It was small and reliable. Not too bright, not too hot. Average by every aspect for a witch.

She embraced it.

She was still scared, had always been scared, because if this was a ball of light, she had always imagined her mother’s power would be a pool of dark sticky liquid and she had always suspected that under that bright light, she might have a lake of darkness of her own.

But she would _drown_ in a lake of darkness to save that boy.

She would do _anything_ to save that boy.

She embraced the light and held it tight until she faded within its entirely safe limits and _there_…

There was no pool of dark sticky liquid, no lake full of darkness…

Only light.

An ocean of it.

Golden light as far as she could see. _Feel_.

Golden light that filled her up.

Not just a ball in her stomach but a gentle stream slowly filling her whole body.

Power.

Raw power.

Hidden in plain sight. 

And it wasn’t so scary anymore because…

“Warm and tingly like a kiss…” she whispered, opening her eyelids.

She knew they were glowing gold.

Then she dipped into Earth magic again with her left hand and pushed everything she had at Peeta and the night was pierced by the golden halo of her body. Her head fell back, her mouth opened in a silent shout… Distantly, she could see Katniss gaping at her, she could hear Haymitch muttering encouraging praises in her ear, she could feel Peeta’s heartbeat becoming stronger...

Flesh and muscles and sinews and nerves mending themselves.

She felt the strain.

Of course, she felt the strain, she was powerful but that did not make her a goddess, but she kept going until she was sure the leg would stay attached and the worst he would feel was a temporary ache in his body. Once she was certain he was safe, she dropped the healing spell.

She hadn’t meant to drop _herself _in the process but it was good Haymitch was still holding her.

He gently lowered her to the ground as Peeta sat up with a gasp. She watched Katniss jump on him, tossing her arms around his neck only to draw back and punch his arm. Peeta looked dizzy but he didn’t have time to protest because then the girl was hugging him again and crying a little and it was all so…

A calloused palm cupped her cheek and suddenly there was a face hovering over hers and she smiled because…

“Do you know…” she giggled. “I think I might be in lo…”

Another hand covered her mouth before she could say it.

Haymitch looked partly relieved, partly worried. “_I _think you might be very high right now so best not make stupid declarations.”

_High_. Perhaps she was. She had never done drugs but… It felt like a high. A magical high.

She poked his palm with her tongue and he slowly took his hand away, brushing her blond hair back.

“I have power after all.” she said, sounding almost puzzled.

“Told you.” he triumphed.

“Rude.” she commented because a gentleman should never rub a lady’s nose in her mistake.

He chuckled but it was strained. “You’re not gonna end up in another coma, yeah? I don’t need to get you to a hospital?”

She blinked at him and slowly sat up. “I don’t think so. I’ve never felt better.”

She was… _energized. _Her body was thrumming with life. And power. Like a sponge full of liquid. Which must have been the worst metaphor ever and made her laugh for five minutes straight.

Everyone was staring at her, she knew, but she didn’t care.

“To bed with you.” Haymitch finally sighed and lifted her up.

“Bed, yes. Wonderful idea.” she hummed. She waited until he had her in a safe bridal hold and Katniss was helping Peeta to his own feet to suck his earlobe in her mouth. “I _want_ you.”

He jerked his head away from her and tossed her a mild glare. “Behave.”

She pouted but settled back with her head on his shoulder, content to watch the children for now. Katniss was helping Peeta, his arm stretched across her shoulders… The boy looked worse for the wear, _confused_, but Effie knew he would be alright after he had some sleep. If the girl ever let him get some. She seemed intent on lecturing him well into the night and he gazed at her with open love.

She only _wished_ Haymitch would ever look at her like that…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... It was close, wasn't it? What do you think will change now? Will everlark be less awkward? Will Effie become evil? Will Haymitch get some fucking rest? XD You tell me what you think!


	10. Chapter 10

“Maybe we should go to school.” Peeta suggested from where he was lying on Haymitch’s couch, distractedly doodling on a notepad. “We missed first period but we could…”

“What’s the point?” Katniss cut him off. “You’ve got a headache and I’m sleep deprived.”

He _did _have a headache.

Haymitch had taken one look at him that morning at breakfast and had snorted something about magical hangover and how it served him right. Then, before Peeta could grovel properly and apologize for hours like he had done with Katniss, the Watcher had slipped out to nail a tarpaulin across the hole in the side of Effie’s house so her living-room wouldn’t be damaged by the weather or wandering wild animals. After that, Haymitch had clasped his shoulder once, had ordered him to stay put and had gone to work.

He had fully expected a lecture but Prim had told him cheerfully that the lecture would probably come from Effie. Katniss’ sister was the only one who had seen the witch that morning because she was the only one who had bothered to get up on time to get ready for school.

“Do you think Effie’s really angry?” He made a face and added cartoon eyes to the vague shape of a cat he had been sketching. Buttercup wasn’t exactly a good model for serious drawing. He kept switching positions. Peeta wasn’t really in the mood for serious drawing anyway.

“Prim said she was still hyper when she saw her so... Who knows…” Katniss shrugged.

She was sitting on the floor right in front of the couch, so close he could have brushed his fingers against her dark braid if he had just moved one inch to the side. She was flicking pages of old musty books she wasn’t actually truly reading in hope the words _Reaping _would jump at her from the paper. He had offered to help but he hadn’t been able to read more than two paragraphs before his head had started throbbing something fierce.

He felt a nervous flutter when he thought about what Effie was doing – Haymitch hadn’t elaborated too much on the matter in front of the girls but the fact that she had departed for the bakery without waiting for him to wake up was telling – and he wasn’t sure he liked the thought of a superpowered witch confronting his parents.

Apparently, although he had been too out of it to realize it the previous night, Effie had been unable to even sit down for _hours _after she had healed him. She had been roaming the house, talking nonstop, laughing loudly, waking Prim and Katniss up every time they managed to doze off… It had lasted right up until Haymitch had tossed her over his shoulder and had carried her to her own house so she wouldn’t bother any of them anymore.

“She was glowing _gold_?” he asked again because Katniss had caught him up on almost everything he had missed while he had been busy dying – with a lot of cursed words and quite a few punches to his arm; hence the numerous apologies.

“She looked like an angel or something.” she sighed and then tossed him a glare over his shoulder. “Don’t tell her I said that.” She made a face. “It was more like an avenging angel anyway. Pretty but deadly. I really don’t get why you like magic so much.”

That was delivered with another glare and he winced again. He let himself slid off the couch until he could sit cross-legged next to her. “I’m sorry. I just wanted…”

“I know what you wanted.” she grumbled, her lips pursed. “You were being _stupid_.” He bowed his head in genuine contrition and apologized again. Katniss softened a little, tossing the book she had been skimming on the coffee table. “There’s one good thing at least. You’re going to stay here with us now. You don’t have to see that horrible woman again.”

“That horrible woman’s my mom.” he countered, not as loudly as he meant to.

So many things had happened in the last twelve hours that when he let himself think about it, he found his head spinning.

He had pushed his mother down the stairs.

He had almost died.

_Effie _had almost died.

“Moms aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.” Katniss replied, staring straight ahead. “Sometimes it’s better to have someone who _actually _wants to take care of you. Not just _has_ to.”

He thought he understood what she meant.

Effie had almost died.

_To save him_.

He was pretty sure his own mother wouldn’t have bothered giving him CPR and Effie had gone above and beyond because…

“That fear demon made a number on me.” he confessed, swallowing hard. “I’ve always been scared that I would turn out like her, you know. And now…”

“Now you know you won’t.” Katniss declared firmly, studying him hard as if she suspected he would grab another magic book the moment she turned her back and try another spell.

“Now I know you believe in me so I can’t be that bad.” he joked.

It was tentative.

His memories of the previous night were vague but he was pretty sure he remembered what happened in the cave.

He was pretty sure she had kissed him.

She stared at him and he wondered if she would actually confront the elephant in the room or, even better, if she would lean across the ridiculous lack of space between them and do it again. He was breathing faster than he should and his head was still hurting but he felt so _alive _and…

Her grey eyes darted to his mouth and back up and for a moment he thought _this is it_.

Then she flushed red, cleared her throat and grabbed the book again. “Good.”

And that was that.

He leaned back against the couch and slowly pressed his thigh against hers in something that could _absolutely _have been an accident - and he would _profusely _apologize for invading her space if… She pressed her leg back against his.

Peeta’s mouth stretched into a smile. He felt so happy he could have walked on clouds, nothing could touch him, he was…

The sound of the front door opening and closing followed by the very telltale clicks of high heels on the battered floorboards dashed his sudden elation. He sat up straighter and stared at the living-room threshold with wide eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt that apprehensive to be confronted by an authority figure. He had long since stopped caring about his parents’ approval but ever since he had met Haymitch and Effie…

The Art teacher had clearly seen better days.

She was wearing a forest green dress that was positively dull compared to her usually bright clothes. He barely noticed the large navy blue belt fitting it at the waist or the matching heels, her hair was loose and tousled in wild curls that didn’t do anything to hide the weariness on her face despite the liberal amount of make-up she had applied.

If she had been hyper when she had left, she had now come down from her high - either because it had been long enough since the magic rush or because of whatever had transpired between her and his parents. She didn’t look any less energetic than usual though – which meant that she could only be compared to a hurricane.

“Katniss, dear, would you mind giving us some privacy?” she said a little tersely.

He wanted to object that he would tell Katniss everything anyway but before he could say any of that, the girl had bolted to her feet, clearly eager to escape an uncomfortable situation.

“Do you feel better?” the Slayer asked hesitantly on her way out of the room.

“Quite, thank you.” The witch’s smile was strained but she squeezed the girl’s shoulder with genuine affection when she walked past her. “I am heading to work after I had a little chat with Peeta if you want a lift to school.”

Katniss nodded. “Yeah, sure. Thanks. I’ll get my stuff.”

_What had happened to being sleep deprived?_ he wondered. He _had _suspected she was only there to babysit him on Haymitch’s order…

He scrambled back up onto the couch when Effie came closer, not quite able to meet her eyes.

“I’m sorry.” he said before she could even sit down next to him. “I’m really, _really_ sorry. I know I was stupid to do that spell and I shouldn’t have tried to do magic and…” And he wasn’t sure how to finish this sentence so he let it trail off for a moment. “I’m sorry.”

He chanced a glance at her.

She didn’t look furious. His mother would already have looked furious and he would already have been dodging heavy things tossed at his head but Effie looked calm if a little aloof. Her lips were slightly pursed but not as much as when Haymitch was annoying her.

“I have to say I _am _disappointed.” she stated.

She didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t shout. She didn’t try to hit him.

And yet he felt something _crumble _inside his chest and there was the stupid prickle of tears in his eyes because… It was perhaps the worst thing she could have said to him.

“I’m sorry.” he said again. What else could he do but apologize? He had wasted everyone’s whole night, he had put not only himself but all of them in jeopardy, he had…

“I know you are.” She sighed and her voice softened a little. “But, Peeta, you _have_ to understand that what you did could have turned out a lot more differently. It could have been another spell. You could have killed yourself in the attempt. You could have killed us all.” She let the words sink and when he looked down at the hands he was twisting on his lap in shame, she reached out and squeezed them. “I know you did not mean any harm. You were hurting and you sought the closest outlet to relieve that pain and, as Haymitch so _nicely _reminded me this morning, I am partly to blame for leaving you in a room full of magic books.”

“You trusted me.” he whispered, his voice strangled. “And I destroyed that.”

“I _did_ trust you to be _responsible_. I should have remembered you are sixteen and I was not myself always trustworthy at that age no matter how much I loved my guardian.” she sighed, amusement creeping in her voice. “What you did was positively _tame _compared to some of the stunts I pulled. Still… Peeta, I _must_ stress this… Magic should _never_ be used as casually as you used it last night.

He nodded meekly. “I’m never doing magic again. I promise.”

“Well, that’s disappointing. I was rather hoping to _teach you_.” she huffed and he looked up at her with a frown.

“What?” he croaked.

Her lips stretched in a small smile and she lost some of her stern expression. Her blue eyes were twinkling with their usual spark. “You would not have been able to make that spell work if you did not have some talent for witchcraft. At best, the beast would have gotten loose and eaten everyone in sight.” She waved her hand in the air and if her fingers were shaking a little, he pretended not to notice. “This is where you went wrong: you did not research the spell, you did not make sure you had the strength to control it, you did not make sure the source was even reliable and you did not check in with me first. If you are to do magic, you will do it _responsibly_ or _not at all_. Are we clear?”

His heart was beating so fast he could have sworn there were tiny lights dancing in front of his eyes.

“I thought… I thought you’d be so angry you’d want me to clear out of your house.” he stuttered.

But she wanted to teach him _magic _instead?

“Your familial situation is another thing we need to discuss.” she acknowledged and even the dread of that upcoming conversation wasn’t enough to douse the excitement of her offer to _teach him magic. _“And it is actually _not_ _unrelated_ to the magic problem. You showed some talent, as I said, which usually goes hand in hand with power.” She lifted her hand. “Do _not _get your hopes up. Raw talent is only that and you are still very young. Do not expect to be all powerful in a couple of days. This sort of thing needs to be built up and, even then, I am not promising that you will turn out to be an extremely powerful witch. Nevertheless, I would feel better if you had formal training and that requires being nearby.”

“Why witch and not wizard?” he frowned.

“Wizards are another class entirely. They do not use Earth magic and their ways are… brutal.” she answered patiently. “Men are referred as witches too.”

“What about warlocks?” he asked next because he had come across the term a few times.

“Warlocks are born from the union of a human and a demon.” she explained. “They do not _learn _magic, they _are _magic. And not entirely human. Now.” She clapped her hands before he could ask more questions. “I know you do not wish to talk about it but we _must_, darling. I went to see your father this morning.”

His excitement _was _doused then. “Okay.”

Effie’s fingers were drumming on her thigh. It reminded him of how fidgety Haymitch became when he needed a drink and he wondered just how addictive doing powerful magic was. She had suffered from that when they had been under the Lachnoc demon’s spell.

“I respected your wishes concerning the involvement of the police.” she told him. “But I am putting my foot down when it comes to where you will be living. It is your choice, ultimately, of course. If you truly wish to go back…”

He winced. “I just don’t want to be a burden…”

“You are _not_ and _never_ will be a burden to me or Haymitch. Let that be _crystal clear_ and _please_ do not use that word in reference to yourself.” she retorted. “I had a long talk with your father and he agreed it was probably best for you to move out. He also agreed to sign his parental rights over in case your mother got it into her head to cause troubles. My lawyers are drafting the waiver as we speak and a spell or two will ensure it goes through without problem.” He didn’t ask how she had convinced him that his son would be better off with a virtual stranger than with his own family. His father had always been the first to encourage him to sleep at friends’ when his mother was in a mood. His attempt at protecting him. “Now… The choice is for you to make.” Effie continued in a lighter tone. “I talked it over with Haymitch on the way back…”

“He’s at school.” Peeta pointed out with a small frown.

She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. “And if he took that job seriously we would be the first ones to know. His class is watching a documentary as we speak. He was napping, actually, so it was not a great bother for him to answer his phone. _Anyway_…” She cleared her throat. “As I was saying, the choice is for you to make. You can stay with me or you can stay with him, pick whichever option you will be more comfortable with.”

“He’s okay with me staying here?” he asked, a little disbelieving.

It was one thing for Effie to offer. She was _kind_.

But Haymitch…

“Peeta, dear, he told you _a thousand times_ you were welcome to stay.” she gently reminded him. “I can assure you he means it.” Her smile was sweet. “If you want him to become your guardian, he will do it.”

_But Haymitch belonged to Katniss_.

It had been so long since she had had an adult to herself… He couldn’t take him away from her. And he found he didn’t want to. He loved Haymitch. He _did_. He might even have a bad case of hero worship. But…

It was _Effie _who had risked her life for his.

“Can it… Can it be you?” he asked, a bit hesitant.

Surprise and emotion flashed on her face before she schooled her features into something neutral again. Her smile was dazzling though. She looked overjoyed and it only cemented the idea that he was making the right choice in his head.

“It would be _my honor.”_ She grinned. “Although you might reconsider your decision when I ground you until your majority for the gaping hole in my living-room.”

Peeta winced. “I can probably get Dad to pay for the repairs.”

Which sounded all kinds of wrong but…

“Oh, darling… We will repair it _ourselves_.” she declared. “And what I can’t teach you to do with magic, you will help Haymitch fix with a good old hammer and a can of paint.”

Peeta couldn’t stop himself from beaming. “Does Haymitch know he’s going to do that yet?”

Effie didn’t bat an eyelash but her lips twitched. “Not quite yet, no.”

Peeta chuckled and then it turned into a full laugh and then it turned into something that wasn’t _quite _a sob.

“Are you alright, dear?” she worried, rubbing his shoulder. “I know it is a lot to take in and I know you had a difficult night…”

“Are you kidding?” he half-snorted half-scoffed. “I feel like Hagrid just burst in and told me I was a wizard! I feel like I just got my Hogwarts letter!”

She did bat an eyelash then.

“I am _not quite_ sure I enjoy being compared to _Hagrid_.” she deadpanned. “Please, do not _ever _say that in Haymitch’s vicinity or I will _never_ hear the end of it.”

Peeta didn’t think Haymitch knew who Hagrid was because he was pretty sure he didn’t know what _Harry Potter _was.

“Fine.” he chuckled. “Then I feel like I just won a trip in the TARDIS.”

“That is more like it.” she hummed. “Those doctors are usually quite dashing. I would fit the part much better.”

His eyebrows shot up. “You know _Doctor Who_?”

Was it possible his pop culture references would _at last _be understood by someone?

“Peeta… I have spent most of my life in England…” she teased. “There are three things the British hold sacred: tea, discussing the weather and _Doctor_ _Who_.” She was mostly joking though because then she shook her head, her smile still blinding. “I cannot claim to know the show very well. I only caught the occasional episode. It is not quite my cup of tea, shall we say.”

Effie Trinket had watched Doctor Who.

It was maybe even more impossible to accept than the idea that vampires were real.

“Thank you.” he blurted out abruptly when he realized he hadn’t yet. “For last night. And for… For everything. I won’t disappoint you again.”

“I know, darling. I trust you.” She squeezed his shoulder before standing up, less steady on her heels than he would have liked to see her. “Now… You should get some rest. I am certain you must still have a headache. And I shall go teach.” She winked at him. “Although perhaps I will take a leaf from Haymitch’s book and put my students in front of a documentary for once.”

He dropped his head on the back of the couch once she had left the room and contemplated the change twenty-four hours could make.

He wasn’t scared of himself anymore.

Katniss had kissed him.

He was going to be a witch.

And he had found someone who actually _wanted _him around.

Life, he decided, could sometimes be _sweet_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... I'm sure Effie will get better at the grounding part XD And now Peeta lives with the team! Tell me all your thoughts!


	11. Chapter 11

Haymitch waited in the corridor until Katniss had disappeared in the bedroom she shared with her sister – not that he suspected she would sneak back into Peeta’s temporary room but he preferred caution – and when he was certain she wasn’t coming back out, he continued down the corridor to the master. He schooled his features before he pushed the door open because he knew what he would find but the sight of Effie Trinket so casually lying in his bed still made his heart _pang _with… _something_.

There was no seductive show as he had half expected. She did not lie in a subtle but artful sexy position, with her arms tossed over her head and her legs bent, anticipating his return. It was obvious she had been asleep before he and Katniss had probably woken her up by coming back from patrol. She was blinking hard even as she reached for the lamp on the bedside table, half buried under his comforter, her blond hair in disarray…

And she still looked lovely.

And he needed to get a grip very badly.

“How did it go?” she asked, her voice a little hoarse.

Then again, that was what you got for fighting outside in the middle of the night in nothing but frilly pajamas.

“Not bad.” He shrugged, shouldering off the sheath that was dangling across his shoulder blades. He tossed the sword on the threadbare armchair in the corner and then took off his leather jacket, aware that her appreciative blue eyes were tracking his every move. She liked him armed to death, he had noticed the previous night. “Didn’t find the Careers, though.” For which he was grateful because he still didn’t think Katniss was ready for that. “Lots of fledglings. The girl says she already killed four in the woods last night. We got six in the cemeteries and two in town. We didn’t go anywhere near the Hellmouth. We were too tired. Not smart.”

He fished his knife from his boot and placed it on the nightstand on what was apparently his side of the bed. Usually, it remained under his pillow all night but with Effie there… He didn’t want to risk it. He left one stake next to it and dropped the other one on the bed. She wordlessly relocated it to her own nightstand – the nightstand closest to her, she didn’t _own _a nightstand because it was _his house _and she was only there until he was satisfied nothing could get into hers while she and the boy slept thanks to the gaping hole in her living-room…

“So many fledglings… They are building an army.” she commented flatly.

She didn’t sound surprised.

Yet again, even Katniss had figured that out by herself.

“Yeah.” He sighed, ran his hand over his face, and shed the two other hidden blades he kept on his body before taking a good hard look at her.

She stared right back.

She was less pale than she had been when he had left. It had taken a long time for her to feel the backlash of the spell she had weaved the previous night. Even when she had stopped looking high on magic – sometimes around dawn – she had still been hyper and energized beyond any natural explanation. He had spent the whole day checking on her at school between two classes to make sure she wasn’t about to pass out or keel over but it was only once they had been back at his house, near dinner time, that she had finally started to feel the price of her magical feat.

He had forbidden her from taking part in the training, telling her to stay in the library with Madge and Prim instead. She hadn’t been too happy about focusing on research and she had been even less happy when he had ordered her to stay home instead of coming to patrol – if possible, Peeta had been _even less _happy to also be grounded – but he thought a part of her had been grateful too.

“What is it?” she challenged.

He instinctively knew she would read him the riot act if he asked how she felt again – because he had spent the whole day repeating the question – so he simply snorted. “Nothing. I just like the sight of you wearing my clothes.”

It hadn’t escaped his notice that she had pilfered his long-sleeved old white shirt from his dresser. It had holes in it and it was so washed out he could guess at the shape of her nipples under the fabric. It really wasn’t a bad view.

She immediately relaxed but flashed him a small uncertain smile and buried further under the covers. “I am a bit tired still…”

Which meant he shouldn’t get his hopes – or anything else – up.

“You should turn in.” he advised, heading to the bathroom.

He wasn’t quite at ease with the idea of her sleeping in his bed without sleeping with him first. He wasn’t quite at ease with her sleeping in his bed at all. But with Peeta in the only available guestroom… He couldn’t ask her to sleep on the couch and it would have been weird to leave his bed to her and sleep on the couch himself given that they were…

_What were they?_

Casual. _Casual_ was what they were.

But _were_ they?

He was the one who had put his foot down when she had hinted to the boy they should go back to her house for the evening. He didn’t want them in a house that was missing a wall. The Village might be safe from evil in theory but there were still wild animals out there and…

He just didn’t like the idea. 

He lingered in the bathroom, taking a shower purely to waste time, stealing a few mouthfuls from the compact bottle of vodka he kept in the cabinet… He forced himself to stop at three gulps. He couldn’t afford to be drunk. Not anymore. Not with the Careers roaming.

He had hoped she would be asleep by the time he came back but the light was still on and if she had placed an arm over her eyes, she was quick to take it off and watch his progress from the bathroom threshold to his side of the bed.

If she had a problem with him sleeping naked, she didn’t say.

“I found something earlier.” she announced, turning to her side so she was facing him when he slid his legs under the blankets.

He frowned. “About the Reaping?”

She shook her head. “No, I would have led with that.”

“_Fucking _hope so.” he snorted. 

“Caesar has a bit of a thing for prophecies and since Enobaria mentioned to you that it was _foretold_… I called him this morning and he did some digging…” she explained. “He found a prophecy that could match. It’s obscure.”

“Cause you know a prophecy that’s not?” he grumbled.

He hated prophecies. He hated fate. He hated anything that reminded him he might not have as much free will as he liked to think.

“I will spare you the oblique terms. It says a past evil will rise and a bird of fire will burn the world to the ground.” she declared.

He let that sink a second.

“Right. That’s not _oblique_ at all.” he mocked and then let out a long deep breath. “It says he will rise? No _but_, no _if, _no _except _?”

She reached for his shoulder. Her fingers weren’t steady and he briefly compared it to his own tremors when he stopped drinking for too long. “It might not be the right prophecy.”

“Right…” He let his voice trail off and then reached over her for the light switch. Usually, he didn’t like darkness. It scared him. Too easy for his ghosts to sneak in. But right then… Right then he needed the cover of it to hide his thoughts, the terror that made his heart beat so much faster… “He’s gonna come back.”

His tone was definitive because he had known it would happen ever since Katniss had showed up talking about Slayer dreams.

_Hell_, he had known it would happen since the Hellmouth had swallowed him.

Until Snow was actual dust in the wind… He would always haunt him. No prison was a match for him.

“We will fight and we will win.” she promised, gently stroking his shoulder.

He didn’t need her gentle comfort. He didn’t need the lies in the deep of night. He had been there before with Mabel. They had lied to each other, convinced themselves they would be different, that not only would they survive Snow but that she would be the first Slayer to survive long enough to get wrinkles…

He knew better now.

His hand slid down his torso to the huge swollen scar on his stomach. 

“You should go back to England.” he said.

She froze. “Yesterday, you were telling me to stay.”

“Yeah, well I was being selfish.” he snapped. “You should…”

“Nothing is going to happen to me.” she cut him off, moving closer. He felt her lips on his shoulder, replacing her hand…

“You don’t _fucking _know that!” He hadn’t meant to raise his voice but they both lied very still afterwards, straining their ears in case he had alarmed the kids. When nothing moved in the house, he purposefully kept a hold on his tone. “He killed my mom. He turned my brother. He _gutted _the love of my life. There’s a pattern here and the pattern is that everyone close to me _dies_. You should take the kids and go.”

“We already had this discussion.” she reminded him, sounding a little terse.

Maybe the _love of his life _comment wasn’t very tactful given that she was currently sharing his bed.

“Not Katniss, then.” he growled in frustration. “Katniss stays with me. But Peeta and Prim. You take them to England, you keep them safe.”

He turned his head to look at her. He could barely guess at her features in the dark but he knew she looked weary. 

“Do you truly think for one second Peeta will consent to leave her?” she retorted quietly. “Do you think Prim will desert her sister? Do you think I will abandon our Slayer? Or _you _for that matter?”

“What’s the alternative?” he spat. “Me standing over your graves?”

He felt them moving in the dark corners. The imaginary ghosts that populated his nightmares.

Not as clear as they had been when the fear demon had attacked them, not as real, but there all the same.

He turned the light back on and sat up, hiding his face in his hands.

He was betraying too much in front of her, he knew. Too much vulnerability. Too much…

She placed her hand on his back, so light it was almost a ghostly touch.

His own hands left his face to run up to his hair, tugging at the roots…

“Effie, don’t make me watch you die.” he begged.

There was a long, long silence next to him but he didn’t dare look at her. The moment felt too big, too suffocating…

“I am as committed to the cause as you are. I am as committed to our Slayer as you are.” she whispered. “Asking me to leave to spare you possible pain is unfair. Do you think I am not worried about you? About having _to bury you?_” She pressed her lips against his shoulder blade. “The truth is I am an asset and you know it. You need all your assets right now.”

“Effie…” he pleaded because he wasn’t above pleading if that was what it would take for…

“No.” she cut him off and the firmness of her tone was barely smoothed by the next soft kiss she pressed to his skin. “You are thinking with your heart. Think with your head. You need me.”

He did.

They couldn’t afford to be down one witch and without Peeta and Prim there to ground her, he wasn’t sure how Katniss would deal.

And yet…

He bowed his head in defeat, surrendering to her logical arguments.

She sneaked her arms around his torso, plastered herself to his back, pressed a kiss to his neck… When she spoke, he didn’t think her voice was hoarse just because she had a cold. “I think we should have a talk about us…”

“No.” he replied just as firmly as she had earlier. “The monster who likes to stalk me and kill everyone I love’s about to come back so now’s really not the time to have _that_ talk. There’s _no_ talk to have anyway. We _said_ there would be no talk.” No dating, no feelings. They had both agreed. And yet… “Don’t even know if I can feel… _that talk _again. We’re not having _any_ talk about that. _Ever._”

He knew he had hurt her because her arms fell off and she settled back down next to him.

“Of course.” she agreed, her voice far too chipper. “Alright.”

He closed his eyes, feeling so hollow inside… He didn’t keep them closed for too long though. The memory of Mabel’s dead gaze was seared on his eyelids.

He needed a drink. Or a hundred.

“I could go back home.” she whispered. “I know you worry but a few warding runes would do the trick. I wouldn’t even have to do real magic.” Her tone was light. “You could have your bed _all_ to yourself.”

He let out a deep breath and turned off the light, sliding down until he was properly under the blankets. Then he rolled to his side and spooned her.

“Don’t want my bed all to myself.” he muttered. “I like you in it.”

She rested a tentative hand on his forearm and, when he didn’t protest, tugged his arm until it was wrapped around her.

“We will get through this together.” she promised. “We are a team, aren’t we?”

He buried his face in her hair, breathed the familiar smell of her shampoo and wondered why he found it so soothing.

“Yeah…” he relaxed. “Yeah, we’re a team.”

He wasn’t certain it would be enough to stop an evil almost as old as the Earth itself but…

He was willing to hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAND it's a wrap. Did you enjoy it? Let me know your thoughts! Any predictions for what happens next? 
> 
> Episode 7 will start on the 1st of December (yes it's in a while but I've been a bad girl and I need time to get some episode ahead of all of you :p )

**Author's Note:**

> Is Madge best friend material or what? What did you think of this chapter? Hayffie is doing okay... Everlark is obviously noot... Business as usual? XD Let me know your thoughts!


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